Osama wins $4.7m for being called "Bin Laden"

Osama Saleh, from Yemen, was working as a stock clerk at the Pretty Girl women’s clothing store on Knickerbocker Ave. in Bushwick when he was attacked and bullied by a security guard who ranted that he hated Arabs.The store’s manager dismissed his complaint as frivolous.

Osama Saleh:Sticks and stones may break my bones,but names could make me a millionaire

Osama Saleh was earning $7.15 per hour as a stock clerk at the Pretty Girl women’s clothing store on Knickerbocker Ave. in Brooklyn, but now he’s a millionaire because his bosses did nothing to stop the taunting and references to Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. “Being called a terrorist and Bin Laden is like an insult and a slur against me and my race,” Saleh, 27, told the Daily News after Friday’s verdict in Brooklyn Federal Court.

 Saleh’s tormentor was James Robinson, a black security guard at the store who also ranted that he hated Arabs because they were “dirty” and that Saleh should go back to Yemen. Robinson pleaded guilty to assault for the attack in the store basement that left Saleh with a fractured cheekbone, and never responded to the lawsuit.

Osama Saleh

The store’s managers dismissed Saleh’s complaints, saying the banter at the Bushwick store was nothing more than kidding around among the employees. Pretty Girl vice president Victor Lavy testified that, in his opinion, being called “Bin Laden” was no big deal. Lavy added that it was neither inappropriate nor a violation of the company’s code for Robinson to call the plaintiff “Bin Laden.”

Obviously, the jury did not agree. “That level of disregard is so dangerous in a multicultural society,” Saleh’s lawyer Fred Brewington said outside court.