Cisco accused of violating civil rights of Muslim and Arab employees

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has determined that Cisco may have violated the civil rights of its Middle Eastern and Muslim employees. The finding follows allegations of a hostile work environment characterized by anti-Arab and anti-Islamic sentiment on the company’s internal messaging platforms.

The investigation stems from a December 2024 complaint filed by a group of employees known as ‘Bridge to Humanity’ (B2H). The group had previously organized an open letter, signed by more than 1,700 of Cisco’s 86,000 employees, calling on the San Jose-based company to cease providing technology to the Israeli military.

Employees alleged that after Cisco removed the open letter from an internal platform, signatories faced harassment, including one instance where an employee was told to ‘quit living’. The group also submitted a 76-page report documenting hate speech within an internal messaging group called the ‘Connected Jewish Network’ to Cisco’s ethics and employee relations departments.