US Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad (right) in Times Square in Manhattan, New York, US, Jan. 30, 2018. Photo: Andrew Kelly via Reuters Connect

A New Jersey appellate court last month rejected a challenge to a defamation lawsuit brought by a Jewish public school teacher who said she was the victim of a smear campaign in which an Olympian accused her of Islamophobia following an innocuous interaction with a student.

According to the Lawfare Project, on Oct. 6 2021, Tamar Herman, who has served the New Jersey township of Maplewood for over two decades as a second grade teacher, drew back the hood of a female student’s sweatshirt during class, having assumed, because it was covering her eyes, that something unrelated to the day’s lesson had captivated the student’s attention. Herman knew that the student was a practicing Muslim whose wardrobe included the hijab and assumed the article was worn on that day. Discovering that it was not and that she unintentionally revealed the student’s hair, Herman, according to court documents, “immediately and gently brushed the hood back” and apologized.

The incident was soon forgotten, and the student did not protest. Herman continued her lesson.

Herman was blindsided the following day, when Ibtihaj Muhammad, an Olympic fencer and author whom she knew, published on social media an allegedly defamatory video in which she described the incident as an intentional disrobing of a Muslim girl motivated by racism and Islamophobia.

Incidentally, Muhammad tied her discussion of the incident to promoting her recently published book, The Proudest Blue: A Story of Hijab and Family.

But Herman had believed that the issue was settled. Earlier that day, her principal had told her that the child’s parent had called and agreed Herman’s drawing back the student’s hood was a “misunderstanding.” But Muhammad’s hundreds of thousands of followers on social media had been moved by the Olympian’s claim that Herman subjected the child to “humiliation,” “trauma,” and “abuse” and flooded the South Orange Maplewood School District with letters and complaints, many of which brimmed with antisemitic tropes and violent threats.

Muhammad also, allegedly, “grossly” embellished the details of the incident, according to court documents, saying that Herman and the student engaged in a struggle over the hood which ended in Herman’s proclaiming that “her hair was beautiful and she did not have to wear hijab to school anymore” — none of which happened, attorneys said. However, Muhammad’s version of what occurred nevertheless gained acceptance as fact, and before the end of the day on Oct. 7, 2021, Herman was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the school district’s investigation. Law enforcement entered the picture as well, with the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office considering criminal charges. Meanwhile, the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) publicly denounced Herman as a bigot.

An ordeal ensued which has forever altered Herman’s life and besmirched the 20 years she devoted to public service. A progressive Democrat who, in the words of her attorneys “celebrated diversity,” she reveled in teaching students of all backgrounds and forging close relationships with community members from different ethnicities and faiths. She even befriended Muhammad, as they both attended the same gym.

“They also discussed how holding a sporting event in Israel between people of different religions could build cross-culture understanding,” court documents said. “As well, prior to the events at issue in this action, Herman expressed support for Muhammad specifically, and Islam generally, online, where the two were Facebook friends … Herman’s affinity and respect for Muhammad was perhaps best evidenced by Muhammad’s prominent place in Herman’s classroom and its surroundings: Herman had a poster of Muhammad displayed in the hallway outside Herman’s classroom on a special class bulletin board of character traits and accomplishments, and the class studied Muhammad as an example of perseverance, persistence, dedication, overcoming obstacles, overcoming adversity, and achieving excellence in spite of it all.”

Herman’s legal counsel soon realized during its investigation of the case that something else was at play. On the night Muhammad posted her video, the student’s mother, Cassandra Wyatt — who also knew Muhammad personally — told everyone she could on social media that her perception of the classroom incident changed upon her learning that Herman was Jewish.

“I JUST FOUND OUT THAT THE TEACHER IS JEWISHHHHHHHHH😭😭😭,” Wyatt, who also proclaimed that she stood to benefit financially from the controversy, wrote on Facebook. “That’s why I believe she did it now I’m furious…I had no understanding she been in her class a month now…Nowwww [sic] I’m not speechless nor mute I 44nderstand [sic] nowwww…SHE’S JEWISH OO SUS GOT A PROBLEM ON HER HANDS.”

Given the rhetoric of the mother — as well as that of the father, Joseph Wyatt, who once allegedly said, “The Jews, the Semitics, they run Hollywood — Muhammad should have declined to promote a severely biased narrative to her thousands of followers, according to Herman’s lawyers. They added that the Olympian has refused to retract any of the claims she made.

“The malicious defamation campaign against Ms. Herman was a calculated, antisemitic effort to harm a respected member of the community, motivated by her Jewish identity,” The Lawfare Project’s chief operating officer, Benjamin Ryberg, said in a press release. “Ms. Muhammad must be held accountable for the significant trauma she has inflicted. The Lawfare Project commends Bochner PLLC for their exceptional legal work and collaboration with us to pursue justice for Ms. Herman.”

With last month’s ruling, the case can now proceed to discovery.

“We are very pleased with yesterday’s Appellate Division rulings,” Edward Paltzik and Erik Dykema, two attorneys representing Herman, added. “Ms. Herman’s meritorious case against Ms. Muhammad will now proceed, as it should, on a path to trial. The court correctly found that we properly pleaded our defamation case against Ms. Muhammad. We knew all along that this would be an arduous and long process, but Ms. Herman is a woman of remarkable character and resolve. As well, this victory would have not been possible without the ongoing instrumental collaboration of The Lawfare Project.”

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.