WILLIAMSPORT — The Islamic chaplain at the State Correctional Institution at Coal Township, who claimed he had been harassed because of his Muslim faith since he was hired in 1995, has decided not to pursue a federal civil rights lawsuit.
Notice of the decision was filed Wednesday by Mustafa M. Abuomar in U.S. Middle District Court. In his complaint, he had claimed he had been the victim of retaliation and discrimination by management and employees at the prison.
The complaint charged religious and ethnic discrimination along with intentional infliction of emotional distress. It alleged violations of Department of Corrections policy.
The lawsuit, which listed the department, the prison and former warden Joseph Piazza as defendants, claimed Abuomar had filed complaints with his superiors, including those in the Corrections Department’s main office, but to no avail.
The decision in January 2008 to deny inmates access to Islamic religious materials because they might contain violence was falsely attributed to him, the suit stated.
Concerned for his own security, Abuomar said he objected to a verbal order from Piazza to review the literature. When he asked the warden to put the order in writing, he refused, the court document stated.
Piazza also is accused of berating Abuomar in front of Muslim inmates on Jan. 30, 2008.
Claiming he suffered emotional distress, humiliation and embarrassment, Abuomar had sought in excess of $80,000 in compensatory and punitive damages.
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