Glamorous DEI manager Mashal Sherzad who was fired by university for posing in ... trends now
A glamourous model-turned DEI manager who was fired because she posed in front of an Israeli flag emblazoned with swastikas is now suing the University of Minnesota for $75,000 in damages.
Mashal Sherzad, 29, alleges that her First Amendment rights were violated, demanding reinstatement to her job and more than $75,000 in damages.
Sherzad was fired from her position as the diversity, equity and inclusion manager at the school in January after she accidentally uploaded photos of her posing in front of the controversial flag.
During a news conference Friday, Sherzad insisted the flag emblazoned with swastikas belonged to someone else.
'I cannot be responsible for somebody else's intellectual property,' she said, as she fought back tears while explaining how the firing has affected her.
Mashal Sherzad, 29, a glamourous model-turned DEI manager who was fired because she posed in front of an Israeli flag emblazoned with swastikas is now suing the University of Minnesota for $75,000 in damages
Sherzad, 29, alleged her First Amendment rights were 'violated', demanding her job reinstated and more than $75,000 in damages
Sherzad was fired from her position as the diversity, equity and inclusion manager at the school in January after she accidentally uploaded her posing in front of the controversial flag
The activist showed up to the news conference in a tight bodycon dress with risqué cut-outs to make her case and beg for her job back.
'I'm really, really scared for myself for many reasons,' Sherzad told reporters inside the Coffman Memorial Union. 'What happened to me was wrong, legally, factually, emotionally. It was horrifying for me, my family, and my loved ones.'
Sherzad's lawsuit against the university said she 'posted the photographs on her private Instagram account, but unbeknownst to her, they were automatically re-posted on her Facebook account.'
The pictures showing her at a December protest in Barcelona, Spain, have since been deleted from her Facebook.
Sherzad, who identified as Muslim, and who is in a relationship with a woman, began her role in October 2023, and travelled to Barcelona to attend the pro-Palestinian rally just two months later.
She shared pictures of herself from the rally - including snaps of her posing in front of the swastika-embezzled Israeli flag.
She was removed from her DEI manager job for the university's School of Public Health on January 16 after the Dean, Melinda Pettigrew, said her employment would create a 'real risk of significant disruption.'
'I did nothing wrong. They discarded a proud Queer, Muslim, Afghan and SWANA woman,' she has claimed.
The 29-year-old model uses Instagram to share pro-Palestinian content to her 4,000 followers. Her biography section suggests she has worked for famed modeling agency Ford - and Sherzad has shared scores of photos of her striking good looks.
She appears to have modeled herself on Kim Kardashian, with one snap showing a collage of her face next to that of the reality star, who has long denied rumors that her looks are the result of extensive cosmetic surgeries.
Sherzad has posted videos of
