Minnesota school settles with professor who was fired for showing image of the Prophet Muhammad

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A former adjunct professor on Monday settled a federal religious discrimination lawsuit against a private Minnesota school after she was pushed out for showing a depiction of the Prophet Muhammad in class.

Details of the settlement between Hamline University and Erika López Prater are unknown. Online court records show the terms of the agreement are sealed.

David Redden, a lawyer for López Prater, on Tuesday declined to comment “other than to say that the matter was resolved to the mutual satisfaction of the parties.”

The university did not immediately return a phone call and email from The Associated Press seeking comment Tuesday.

López Prater had sued Hamline University in 2023 following her dismissal the year before. Her team of attorneys had argued that the school would have treated her differently if she were Muslim.

The controversy began when López Prater showed a 14th-century painting depicting the Prophet Muhammad to her students as part of a lesson on Islamic art in a global art course.

She had warned them beforehand in the class syllabus and given them an opportunity to opt out. She also reportedly gave a trigger warning before the lesson in which the image was shown.

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A student who attended the class — Aram Wedatalla, then-president of Hamline’s Muslim Student Association — has said she heard the professor give a “trigger warning,” wondered what it was for “and then I looked and it was the prophet,” the Minnesota Star Tribune reported.

Wedatalla complained to the university, saying the warning didn’t describe the image that would be shown. In Islam, portraying the Prophet Muhammad has long been taboo for many.

The university declined to renew López Prater’s contract, and then-president Fayneese Miller described López Prater as “Islamophobic” for showing the image.

Miller later conceded that she should not have used that term and that she mishandled the episode, which sparked a debate over balancing academic freedom with respect for religion.

She announced her retirement months after the school’s faculty overwhelmingly called for her resignation, saying her response to the controversy was a violation of academic freedom.