Council on American-Islamic Relations sues lawyer over use of name

Council on American-Islamic Relations sues lawyer over use of name

By DAVID ASHENFELTER

Free Press Staff Writer

The Council on American-Islamic Relations has sued controversial Southfield lawyer Debbie Schlussel for trademark infringement, saying Schlussel is using its name to confuse its donors.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Detroit, urges Judge Avern Cohn to order Schlussel to stop using or raising money in CAIR's name. A hearing is set for 9 a.m. today.

"She's trying to use the name of the most visible Muslim organization in America to cause confusion and raise funds," Dawud Walid, the group's executive director, said Thursday. "We want the federal court to put a stop to this."

Schlussel countered that CAIR gave up its right to the name by failing to file legally required reports with the State of Michigan starting in 2001.

She said she decided to file paperwork to get the name last year at the behest of a client she wouldn't identify.

"They abandoned the name, they're a fake organization," Schlussel said of CAIR and its name. "A big part of owning trademark is you have to protect it, and they didn't."

CAIR's lawyer, Gadeir Abbas, said CAIR owns the federal trademark on which Schlussel is infringing. Failing to file state paperwork is irrelevant, he said.

The suit accuses Schlussel of achieving "nationwide infamy for stoking Islamophobia in an attempt to marginalize the American-Muslim community" through her Web site, www.debbieschlussel.com.

Schlussel says she exposes the intolerance of Islam and how it infringes on free speech and the American way of life.

Last April, the suit said, Schlussel filed articles of incorporation for "CAIR Michigan, Inc.," and certificates for 17 assumed names, including "Council on American-Islamic Relations." She also registered five Internet domain names, all variations of CAIR.

It said she told a follower on her Web site that she registered the name with the state and appointed herself executive director of the group "to drive the Muslims crazy."

The suit also said she contacted the Michigan Attorney General's Office last September to try to interfere in a federal lawsuit CAIR had filed on behalf of a Muslim woman whom a Wayne County judge ordered to remove her religious head scarf during court proceedings. Schlussel told the state that CAIR was masquerading as her group, which opposed the suit.

Contact David Ashenfelter: dashenfelter@freepress.com

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Asadullah Syed