Former staffer sues Northwestern University, claiming he was fired for opposing LGBTQ+ resource reduction
A former staffer at Northwestern University is suing the school, claiming he was fired for speaking out against the scaling back of LGBTQ+ resources.
Matthew Abtahi was formerly the director of Northwestern's Gender and Sexuality Resource Center. He says in his lawsuit that the university took down the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center's webpage in early 2025 to comply with an executive order issued by President Trump and instructed staff, including Abtahi, to stop providing resources that they had previously been giving to Northwestern's LGBTQ+ community.
Abtahi claims he sent an email in April to employees opposing discrimination by the university against the LGTQ+ community, and was suspended pending an investigation the next day. The suit says he was never interviewed as part of that investigation and that he was then told that he "could resign effective May 2, 2025 or Northwestern would fire him immediately."
According to the complaint, Abtahi said he was set to change roles from the LGBTQ+ center's director to the senior associate director of alumni engagement, but in the same email offering him the opportunity to resign he was told he would not eligible to be rehired by Northwestern in a different role and the offer to move to the role with alumni engagement was rescinded.
Abtahi refused to resign and was fired by the university, his lawsuit says. He was also told he was not permitted on the Evanston campus any longer.
Abtahi is suing for wrongful termination and retaliation, among other violations. He is asking for monetary damages, attorneys fees, and to be reinstated into his job in alumni relations or compensate him monetarily for that.