Forced to Work as ‘Antoine,' Mohamed Wins Lawsuit After 20 Years of Discrimination in France
Now, after a long legal battle, a French court has ruled in his favor. The court found that Intergraph France discriminated against Mohamed because of his name, committed moral harassment, and violated his privacy. The company was ordered to pay him €30,000 in damages.
'The pain is still there. It's 20 years of my life,' Mohamed told Le Parisien after the court's decision.
Mohamed had just completed a successful job interview in late 1996 when his future manager asked him to use a different name. Mohamed, shocked and ashamed, accepted the condition.
He never received an explanation. But he believes it was because his boss thought a name like 'Mohamed' would hurt sales and scare clients. 'It's racism. It's discrimination,' Mohamed said.
Although he knew it was wrong, Mohamed stayed. He was in his 40s, had three children, and had already left his previous job. Over the years, he became a top salesman, winning company awards and earning good money, but always under the name 'Antoine.' Mohamed Amghar
After leaving the company in 2017, Mohamed took legal action. In 2018, his lawyer tried to settle the matter quietly, but Intergraph denied responsibility. The company even suggested that Mohamed may have chosen the name himself.
He then took the case to labor court in France, but lost in 2022. Mohamed then decided to appeal and finally, in 2025, the court ruled in his favor.
The court said the employer failed to explain why the name 'Antoine' was used and could not prove that Mohamed had asked for the name change.
While Mohamed was happy to finally receive recognition, the damages awarded, €30,000, feel small to him. 'This isn't enough to stop others from doing the same. For a billion-euro company, it means nothing,' he said.
Mohamed's story is not unique, as many people with Muslim names or North African backgrounds face pressure to hide their identity to fit in or avoid discrimination in France. Tags: ArabFranceIslamophobiamuslim
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7 hours ago
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Casablanca's Echo: Roosevelt's New Deal Lessons for an Africa Confronting Climate Change, AI, and Migration Barriers
In January 1943, at the height of World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt traveled to Casablanca, [French] Morocco, where he convened with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, French generals Charles de Gaulle and Henri Giraud, and Sultan Mohammed V, while Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin contributed from a distance. The Casablanca Conference not only charted the Allied course to victory but also articulated a vision for a postwar world rooted in peace, cooperation, and prosperity. Roosevelt's presence on African soil—engaged in high-stakes diplomacy over freedom, development, and strategic partnership—was more than symbolic. It signaled a moment of global reckoning and possibility. That moment, born in Casablanca, continues to resonate—not as a relic of history, but as a call to action for a new generation of Africans confronting the pressing challenges of our time. Last week, I stood in the shadow of Mount Hood, Oregon, and walked the storied halls of Timberline Lodge—a majestic stone-and-wood structure built at the height of the Great Depression under President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration (WPA). As I watched a documentary recounting its rapid 15-month construction, I listened to Roosevelt's 1937 dedication speech, in which he praised the lodge as 'a monument to the skill and faithful performance of workers on the rolls of the WPA.' It was more than a building; it was a symbol of national renewal. Timberline was born of a radical ethos: offer not just jobs, but dignity, skills, and wages—and in doing so, rebuild the country from the ground up. Roosevelt envisioned Timberline as a test: could government-built and -operated recreational infrastructure serve both economic recovery and public well-being? The answer, resoundingly, was yes. Today, Timberline Lodge welcomes nearly two million visitors annually, a cultural landmark and economic engine for the region. It stands as proof of what public work can achieve: it not only employs, it educates; it not only pays wages, it fosters citizenship, trust, and craftsmanship. The WPA's mission went beyond short-term relief—it was about investing in the future by restoring human potential. As I stood in Timberline's great hall—crafted by once-unemployed stonemasons, carpenters, weavers, and laborers—I felt something deeper. It wasn't nostalgia; it was recognition. I saw in that structure a roadmap for the future. For nearly a century later, nations like Morocco and many across Africa now face their own crisis of joblessness, particularly among the youth, and the same urgent question looms: How do we restore hope and opportunity at scale? Just as Timberline rose from the ashes of economic despair, Africa today stands at a similar crossroads. 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As crops fail, livestock die, and rural incomes collapse, young people are pushed toward overcrowded cities in search of jobs that don't exist. Climate-induced displacement and unemployment now pose existential threats, making the creation of climate-resilient employment and infrastructure a critical priority. Any sustainable employment strategy must therefore integrate climate adaptation—through investments in reforestation, sustainable agriculture, water management, and renewable energy. These are not only environmental imperatives but also potential sources of dignified, future-oriented work. The hard truth is that Africa cannot migrate its way out of this triple crisis. The solutions must come from within. But this inward turn must not be isolationist—it must be imaginative. Africa must draw on its own creativity, talent, and cultural capital to build inclusive rural and urban economies that serve the many, not the few. This is not a retreat—it is a reawakening. 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It recognized that meaningful work—rooted in communities and broadly shared—could do more than alleviate economic despair; it could restore hope, rebuild trust, and help nations imagine a future worth striving for. Let us meet this moment in that same spirit—not with retreat, but with imagination, investment, and collective courage. Let 'unconditional surrender' become more than a relic of military history—let it be reclaimed as a developmental credo for an Africa that believes in itself and dares to build a just, inclusive, and sustainable future. Tags: AfricaAIartificial intelligenceclimate change
Morocco World
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10 hours ago
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