Fired Friends' Central Teachers File Federal Lawsuit: Report

WYNNEWOOD, PA – This time last year, two teachers at Friends' Central School in Wynnewood were essentially fired from the private Quaker school following controversy around a Palestinian guest speaker they invited to give a talk to a student-created club.

Now the two teachers are taking their case to federal court.

The Philly Voice reports English teacher Ariel Eure and history teacher Layla Helwa have filed a federal wrongful termination lawsuit against headmaster Craig N. Sellers and Board of Trustees clerk Phillip Scott.

Eure and Helwa were suspended in February 2017 after parents raised concerns over Swarthmore College professor Dr. Sa'ed Atshan's planned lecture, which was subsequently canceled by the school. Atshan, who is Palestinian, was set to speak to the school's Peace and Equality in Palestine Club, which was formed by students without Eure's and Helwa's input.

The teachers are suing for compensatory and punitive damages for more than $150,000 and are seeking a ruling the the school violated their rights under the 1964 Civil Rights Act, according to the Philly Voice. They are also claiming statements made by school administrators about them were defamatory.

Atshan is an assistant professor with Swarthmore's Peace & Conflict Studies department and holds several degrees from Harvard and Swarthmore. Atshan has also worked with Human Rights Watch, the American Civil Liberties Union, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Seeds of Peace International Camp, the Palestinian Negotiations Affairs Department, and Medical Aid for Palestinians, according to Swarthmore College.

Following the suspension, during which Eure and Helwa were unsure of the future of their careers at the school, the pair and their attorney Mark Schwartz issued a five-point ultimatum to the school. Only one of those points was met,as the school re-invited Atshan to speak to students. He ultimately declined the invitation.

Eure and Helwa were offered $5,000 severance packages if they dropped a civil rights lawsuit and signed a confidentiality agreement but they turned down the packages.

Scott said the issue was not a free speech issue, but rather an issue of the pair "failing to follow explicit directives, and their stated intentions going forward."

Their contracts then were not renewed, effectively firing them from the school.

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