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A Minneapolis law firm fired an attorney and relative of Holy Land CEO Friday after a racist video from 2016 recently resurfaced on Twitter.
Goldstein Law, PC announced Suleiman Wadi’s termination in a statement on Facebook after the video was posted the same day his cousin Lianne Wadi came under fire for past racist posts that resurfaced on social media. Lianne tagged Suleiman in some of her posts.
“With the diverse nature of our practice and of our staff, it would be simply impossible to retain someone with these types of social media issues out there,” Bruce Goldstein, owner of Goldstein Law, told Sahan Journal.
In its Facebook statement, Goldstein Law said it has no tolerance for hate or discrimination. “Goldstein Law is a long time believer in seeking justice for individuals,” the law firm said.
The video was posted by Twin Cities resident Abby Honold, 25, a rape survivor and advocate for policy reform on behalf of other sexual assault survivors. The video was originally posted in September 2016 and was sent to Honold confidentially. It showed Suleiman Wadi saying: “I hate n******” in a crowd of people.
Suleiman worked for Goldstein Law for two years and attended law school at the University of North Dakota, according to Avvo, a search engine database for finding a lawyer.
Suleiman alerted Goldstein about his connection to Lianne’s social media posts Thursday. But after Goldstein saw the video Friday morning, he decided to fire Suleiman.
“I was very surprised about what I saw in that video,” Goldstein said. “He has been well-liked by all types of clients.”
Holy Land CEO Majdi Wadi said Suleiman never worked at Holy Land and was not associated with the company in any way. Suleiman is Majdi’s cousin’s son.
Suleiman did not respond to multiple requests for an interview with the Sahan Journal.
On Thursday, Majdi fired his daughter who was his catering manager for posting a series of racist tweets, including a photo with a monkey captioned: “Made friends with this little n**** today.”
Lianne, who posted the tweets when she was a teenager, apologized for her posts.
“I was so shocked that I even posted something so offensive,” she wrote on Instagram. “I recognize the gravity of my words and how hurtful they can be and how hurtful they were. I wasn’t thinking. I was a teenager at the time (although my youth is not an excuse).”
Hibah Ansari is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms.
