ECBAWM Associate, Sana Mayat, spoke to TRT World regarding the firm’s $17.5 million settlement against the City of New York whereby over 3,900 people were eligible to receive compensation after the New York City Police Department (NYPD) forced them to remove their religious head coverings for post-arrest photos between 2014 and 2021.

In the interview, Sana discussed the settlement’s significance amid the growing incidents of hijab removals by Police Departments across the United States during peaceful protests. Sana told TRT World, “I think New York City has a deep history of policing Muslims, very intense law enforcement against Muslims, and so there is just something so empowering about seeing [the named plaintiffs in the case] come forward to say that this should not have happened and should not happen to anyone else.”

Read more about the case here.