Art professor sues after firing over Prophet Muhammad images

By MARGARET STAFFORD
Associated Press

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — An adjunct art professor is suing the Minnesota university that dismissed her for including depictions of the Prophet Muhammad in a global art course. Erika López Prater alleges in a lawsuit that Hamline University subjected her to religious discrimination and defamation after a Muslim student objected when she included a 14th-century painting depicting the Prophet Muhammad in a lesson on Islamic art. Her attorneys say in a news release that the firing has cost Lopez Prater her job and damaged her professional and personal reputation. Hamline, a small, private school in St. Paul, did not immediately return messages seeking comment.