WASHINGTON, Dec 5: A hospital housekeeping employee on Tuesday sued a suburban Chicago hospital charging he was fired from his job shortly after the Sept 11 terrorist attacks because he is Muslim.

Saad Mahdi, 31, an Iraqi national with a green permanent resident card, said in the filing he was quizzed five days after the attack by officials of the Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove about his nationality and ethnic background, as well as his views on the terrorism. After the meeting, he was escorted to his locker by security personnel and then to his car.

During the meeting, Mahdi asked why he had been suspended.

“They answered that people were nervous about the terrorist attacks,” the suit said.

The suit said Mahdi, who had worked at the hospital for less than three months, was told the firing was temporary and that he could be reinstated in the future but he never was rehired.

The suit seeks back wages and benefits, reinstatement with seniority, unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, and attorneys fees and court costs.

“Discriminatory treatment based on religion and ethnic origin must never be tolerated,” attorney Kamran Memon said. “Good Samaritan Hospital needs to deal with this incident to ensure that it is not repeated.”