“Longtime French Teacher Fired Over Controversial Response to Student’s Question”

Alleged Wrongful Termination

A long­time French teacher at the elite, all-girls Spence School in New York City’s Upper East Side claims she was wrong­ful­ly ter­mi­nat­ed after her response to a stu­den­t’s ques­tion about France’s con­tro­ver­sial hijab law upset the head of school’s daughter.

Triggering a Reaction

Accord­ing to the law­suit, in May 2023, the daugh­ter of new­ly appoint­ed Head of School Feli­cia Wilks asked a ques­tion about France’s “hijab law” in the teacher’s class.

The teacher, Anne Pro­topap­pas, a cel­e­brat­ed edu­ca­tor who had taught at the pres­ti­gious $65,000-a-year school since 1999, pro­vid­ed a straight­for­ward expla­na­tion of the law from a French perspective.

Emotional Outburst and Consequences

How­ev­er, Pro­topap­pas’ thor­ough expla­na­tion trig­gered an “intense­ly per­son­al and emo­tion­al reac­tion” from Wilks’ daugh­ter, who became furi­ous and kept talk­ing about a West Coast friend who had start­ed wear­ing a hijab. 

The next day, the young Wilks “expressed even more anger” and tried to get her class­mates to “join in her out­rage,” leav­ing the rest of the class “embar­rassed and confused.”

Alleged Unfair Dismissal

Pro­topap­pas claims that after this inci­dent, she was sud­den­ly labeled as “harm­ful to stu­dents” and was warned that her class would be placed under strict scrutiny. 

Despite years of praise for her advanced lan­guage class­es, the school alleged­ly denied her any due process and ulti­mate­ly fired her, with the admin­is­tra­tors nev­er pro­duc­ing detailed alle­ga­tions from stu­dents besides Wilks’ daughter.

Seeking Reinstatement and Change

Pro­topap­pas, now 62 and unable to find a new job, is suing the school, seek­ing to be rein­stat­ed and for the Spence School to return to valu­ing its educators. 

She believes the deci­sion to fire her was based on con­struct­ing a nar­ra­tive, rather than facts and evi­dence, in what she calls an “Orwellian” situation.

Upholding Academic Freedom

This case high­lights the impor­tance of uphold­ing aca­d­e­m­ic free­dom and the abil­i­ty of teach­ers to have open and hon­est dis­cus­sions in the class­room, even on sen­si­tive topics. 

The Spence School’s alleged actions raise con­cerns about the influ­ence of admin­is­tra­tors and the poten­tial silenc­ing of dis­sent­ing views.