Overview
- Prabhakar says she was removed from the classroom and told her contract would not be renewed after a February 2026 meeting with South Florida State College president Fred Hawkins.
- She filed a federal complaint in late July seeking reinstatement, monetary damages, and a judicial ruling that her classroom speech is protected, with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression representing her.
- The dispute centers on Ottessa Moshfegh’s short story “Bettering Myself,” which Prabhakar says she taught for nearly a decade and assigned to illustrate narrative voice.
- The complaint says a student first reported feeling “a bit uncomfortable” but then completed the assignment, and that HR told Prabhakar the material wasn’t in the textbook and that the president has final say.
- Reporting notes Hawkins is a former Republican lawmaker and DeSantis ally and places the suit in the broader Florida fights over classroom speech and recent court rulings on higher-education restrictions.