SAN JOSE — A veteran San Jose Police Department officer who is Muslim contends he has been steadily harassed at work because of his race and religion and says an Islamophobic joke at a police briefing last fall was the tipping point.

Officer Nabil Haidar, who has been with SJPD since 1997, filed a claim Monday against the city of San Jose alleging “continuous harassment and discrimination based upon his race, national origin and religion,” according to a statement from his attorney Randall Strauss.

The Lebanese-American officer says he was subjected to discriminatory behavior that “increased in severity over the years” but he didn’t complain out of fear of retaliation.

He said he changed his mind after a November briefing when a police captain was recognizing veterans in the room and a police sergeant reportedly stated, “Captain, you forgot to mention Nabil. He is an ISIS veteran. He was with ISIS for two years,” alluding to the notorious Islamic State terrorist network.

Haidar also claims his wife was the recipient of similar remarks at least once.

“When somebody chips at your soul day in and day out, that’s torture,” Haidar said in an interview with NBC Bay Area.

When asked about the claim, SJPD Chief Eddie Garcia said he could not give comment directly, citing personnel protections. But he strongly objected to the idea that his department has systemic issues with discrimination, Islamophobia or otherwise.

“It’s an unfair characterization,” Garcia said. “I can’t speak to the lawsuit, but what I can speak to is that allegations such as this are handled seriously and I find them unacceptable.”

Police officials said they could not recall any previous city claim against the department alleging discrimination against Muslims, and said their frequent contact with Muslim organizations would have revealed such behavior if it was happening.

Adnan Rasheed, chairman of the South Bay Islamic Association Board of Trustees and a member of the police department’s Community Advisory Board, said he hasn’t witnessed any police discrimination.

“Honestly, no,” Rasheed said. “That’s my own opinion and I’ll take it to the bank anytime.”

Multiple officers who worked with Haidar, and talked to this news organization on condition of anonymity to avoid legal retaliation, asserted Haidar has long made self-deprecating jokes about himself and terrorism, and that he would joke about colleagues in similarly boorish fashion.

Haidar challenged that description.

“What did I say? Let them come forward and say what I said,” he told NBC Bay Area.

Claims like the one filed on behalf of Haidar typically precede civil litigation. Haidar states he began experiencing increasing harassment after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, including casual remarks about being a “suicide bomber.”

Haidar claims a report to Internal Affairs about the November briefing incident did not yield a swift response. He also alleges he was similarly harassed by colleagues while responding to a burglary call in January, the same month he requested a transfer from patrol to recruitment.

At the end of his claim, Haidar asserts the harassment that prompted him to transfer has cost him salary and overtime loss equivalent to $150,000 a year and will cost him $1.35 million over the next nine years, when he plans to retire. He is claiming that amount of economic loss for the harassment, as well as $5 million in non-economic damage for “severe emotional stress.”

The case is reminiscent of a complaint filed last month against the San Francisco Police Department by an Afghan Muslim officer who claimed similar discrimination that included taunting and being accused of being a terrorist. The officer, who has declined to be named, spoke out with the aim of improving bias training at SFPD, which the department has said it has already been implementing.

Zahra Billoo, executive director of the Bay Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said her organization is monitoring the San Francisco case but could not recall any specific Muslim discrimination cases involving San Jose police. Still, she voiced concern about the allegation.

“Police departments are already facing a lot of scrutiny over their interactions with, and violence against, minority communities. One often-proposed solution is to increase diversity in the police force to ensure cultural competence and minimize bias,” Billoo said. “If, however, these are the experiences of Muslim police officers, one is forced to wonder just how deep-rooted the biases, which endanger us when levied by police officers, really are.”

Garcia asserted that his department has been at the forefront of embracing progressive and inclusive practices, including establishing a religious grooming exemption for a Sikh officer who needed to grow a beard in advance of his wedding, and launching a focused recruiting push for officers from the LGBTQ community.

“We’re not just tolerant, but we’re accepting,” Garcia said. “With everything we do, from cultural diversity training, taking part in the Pride parade, taking part in Ramadan, all the meetings I’ve had with local imams. This (allegation) is not our department.”