Bassem Youssef was a Unit Chief in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Counterterrorism Division. Youssef blew the whistle on FBI hiring practices and sued the FBI for discrimination in 2003. In his lawsuit, he claimed that in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, he had been passed over for promotions to work in counterterrorism, even though he had relevant experience and was one of the only fluent Arabic speakers at his level at the FBI at the time. Instead, others with less relevant experience and skills were promoted to counterterrorism positions. Youssef spoke out against these practices, saying that he was retaliated against. He was assigned a desk job and stated that post-9/11, his skills as an Arabic speaker and polygraph examiner had not been used. In 2006, the Department of Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility ruled that the FBI had illegally retaliated against Youssef because of his whistleblowing.