Barash (right) celebrates after the Michigan Civil Rights Commission ruled in his favor in Lansing.   PHOTO: Nafeh AbuNab/TAAN

FARMINGTON HILLS — The Michigan Civil Rights Commission ruled last Thursday in favor of Mazyn Barash, a bus mechanic from Farmington Hills who filed a suit against his former place of employment SMART, the bus company where Barash was being threatened and insulted for his Iraqi background.  

Barash, 53, who is a married Chaldean Christian with two children, had been employed with the company since 1989 and had not come across such problems until the events of 9/11 took place. 

“My co-workers would cut out pictures of terrorists and place them on my card,” he stated. 

Other employees were making jokes like asking him where his camel hump was and calling him a “Rag head.” Feeling insulted, Barash reported this abuse to a superintendent, but his claims were rejected after he was told that they were just humorous jokes.  

“9/11 was one of the most devastating days in the world, no matter what nationality you are,” Barash added. “It was not a humorous situation.” 

After Barash’s claims were rejected by his superintendents, the hostility at his work continued to alarmingly increase. On the first day of the Iraq war on March 19, 2003, Barash had received a threatening letter upon arriving to his shift. The letter, which called him a Sand N*****, said that he was going to be “hit.” 

Barash then proceeded to show the letter to his Superintendent Keith Taylor, who responded to Barash by saying “The fun is just beginning.” Taylor later testified under oath that he did in fact say this.  

The hostility continued as he overheard an employee say that he was going to “kill all the Iraqis.” A website, created by his colleagues, was also directly attacking him. On the site, bigotry and ignorant postings of signs, pictures and drawings that were pro-War and anti-Muslim were added, despite Barash himself not even being a Muslim. 

Drawings of Arab men in turbans and aggressive signs related to the war were also posted around the work place, making Barash’s work environment intolerable.  

According to Barash, nothing continued to be done by SMART after he would report these incidents. One of the colleagues who had insulted him was even awarded with both an Employee of the Year award and a promotion by SMART. 

In 2004, Barash decided to finally file a complaint with the Michigan Civil Rights Commission. After filing the complaint, he was put on a temporary leave of absence from SMART in October of 2004, unable to cope with the continued threats and insults.  

“We came to this country in 1966 and prior to 9/11 when people used to ask you where you were from, they would be amazed to hear you were from Iraq,” Barash added. “But after 9/11 that all changed.” 

The case stretched out over a two year period where 17 hearings had taken place. It took a hearing officer assigned to the case, attorney Barry Goldman, an additional 18 months to decide on the case. In 2007, he was then permanently terminated from his job, after nearly three years on leave of absence. He has since been unemployed.  

The investigation made by the commission had initially sided with Barash. However last year, Goldman ruled against Barash’s claims arguing that the abuse was justified due to the nature of the political climate at the time. 

Barash appealed this ruling and the commission ruled in his favor last week.  

“Justice was finally served and it came in an appropriate way,” Barash stated. “I would never want my children living in an environment where they are ridiculed and humiliated for what they are.” 

The ruling stated that it would later determine what damages Barash would be compensated for.