Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, DISCRIMINATION—NATIONAL ORIGIN—4th Cir.: Iraqi journalists, fired after making political social media posts, cannot revive claims, (Jun 18, 2026)

By Todd Harrison, J.D.

The company’s code of ethics required journalists to remain neutral both when reporting and when posting on social media personally.

Affirming a district court’s dismissal of two separate but similar claims of discrimination asserted by journalists of Iraqi national origin against Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN), the Fourth Circuit agreed that neither journalist could identify comparators sufficient to sustain a claim under Title VII. Allegations that other individuals posted on social media without reprimand lacked the particularity necessary to permit an inference that the journalists were terminated because of their national origin, and not because of their conduct. Further, the two had admitted to workplace policy violations and insubordination regarding the social media posts in question, and without more the court could only speculate as to whether their national origin was the underlying reason for the termination decisions (Alijizzani v. Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc., Nos. 24-1672 and 25-1333 (4th Cir. June 17, 2026)).

Code of ethics. MBN’s code of ethics regulates journalists’ professional conduct, as well as aspects of their personal conduct, including what they post on their social media accounts. Violations of the code may result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination.

Social media posts. An investigative journalist made a social media post on March 6, 2021, apparently critiquing the Grand Ayatollah in Iraq as he was meeting with Pope Francis. His supervisor immediately called him “and told him to delete his tweet.” When he refused, he was suspended. Three days later, he still had not removed the tweet and again refused to do so after meeting with network executives. At that point, he was terminated for violating MBN’s code of ethics.

Another journalist, employed as a “correspondent” by MBN, was sent a verbal warning in March 2021 “to stop posting any political content about Iraq on [his] personal social media accounts.” Notwithstanding this warning, he posted at least four tweets about Iraqi politics. Less than one week later, his employment was terminated for violating MBN’s social media policy.

Lawsuits. Subsequently, the two journalists filed separate lawsuits alleging national origin discrimination in violation of Title VII. The district court granted MBN’s motion to dismiss the investigative journalist’s lawsuit, noting that he had failed to allege that other Iraqi journalists were similarly terminated for refusing to comply with their supervisors’ instruction such that he was treated differently than similarly situated employees outside of his protected class.

As to the lawsuit filed by the correspondent, the court likewise concluded that it was deficient because it did not “adequately and more specifically [allege] appropriate comparators that would allow the case to go forward” and therefore “the complaint is really not sufficient,” especially when the allegations of discrimination were based solely on comparator evidence. These appeals followed.

Generalized comparisons. First, the court addressed the appeal by the investigative journalist. Although he acknowledged that he was terminated for insubordination, he nevertheless claimed his firing was discriminatory because he was treated differently from non-Iraqi employees. However, his complaint did not identify a single non-Iraqi employee who engaged in similar conduct—making a social media post about Iraqi politics in violation of workplace policy and then defying orders to remove the post—and who was not likewise terminated.

Rather, the investigative journalist alleged only that two non-Iraqi employees “regularly post[ed] on social media” and “have never received reprimands for violating MBN’s Code” and that three other non-Iraqi employees, “frequently tweet[ed] political opinions that should constitute violations” of the code but have not been reprimanded.

Such “highly generalized comparisons” based simply on allegations that other individuals posted on social media without reprimand lacked the particularity necessary to permit the drawing of a reasonable inference that the investigative journalist was terminated because of his national origin, rather than his conduct, said the court. Accordingly, the dismissal of this claim was affirmed.

Insufficient detail. Turning to the correspondent’s appeal, the court found his claim also fell short for the same reason. His main argument alleged that he was treated less favorably than non-Iraqi employees. Specifically, he pointed to two MBN employees who “regularly posted similar content to the Iraqi journalists on social media” without reprimand, three other employees who “frequently tweeted their political opinions without reprimand,” and a sixth comparator who purportedly discussed Chinese politics on television but was only suspended.

In this instance, the court again determined that the correspondent’s complaint provided insufficient detail from which to conclude that the comparators’ circumstances were sufficiently similar to his so as to give rise to a reasonable inference that he was terminated because of his national origin rather than his repeated policy violations. Thus, the district court’s dismissal of this claim was also affirmed.

The cases are Nos. 24-1672 and 25-1333.

Judge: Niemeyer, P.

Attorneys: Dirk Harris McClanahan (McClanahan Powers) for Maan Aljizzani and Steven Issac. Jillian Ambrose (Crowell & Moring) for Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc.

Companies: Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc.

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