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Nabil Youssef speaking at a candidate forum in 2011, is suing the Jersey City school district over allegations of grade inflation and Islamophobia. Lauren Casselberry | The Jersey Journal

(Jersey Journal file photo)

Allegations of discrimination and grade inflation are at the center of a lawsuit filed by an Arab American high school teacher against the Jersey City public-school district.

Nabil Youssef, a math teacher at Lincoln High School, alleges that starting in April 2014 district officials, including Schools Superintendent Marcia V. Lyles, attempted to get him not to fail children in his math class so the district would not lose federal funds. After he said he did not want to change grades, he was denied promotions and subject to harassment, Youssef says in the four-count lawsuit.

When Youssef complained about not being promoted or transferred, district officials retaliated by not granting him leave to attend his mother's funeral in Egypt and by giving him a "substantial demotion," Youssef alleges.

He also says he was subject to a hostile work environment, citing a January 2014 incident when he says a high school vice principal forwarded him a "no-fly list" Youssef interpreted as derogatory. Another time Youssef was written up for sitting in class, he says.

The lawsuit, filed in July 2014 in Hudson County Superior Court, was originally slated for trial last week. The trial date has been moved to February. The defendants are the school board, Lyles and other district officials.

Requests for comment from Youssef's attorney were not returned. The school district's spokeswoman declined to comment.

Aside from being a school teacher, Youssef has been a political candidate here in Jersey City. In 2011 he unsuccessfully ran for a school board seat in April then lost a shot at winning an at-large council seat that November.

Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.