PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A prominent Muslim teacher has filed a federal lawsuit against the Philadelphia School District, claiming her free speech rights were violated over her Pro-Palestinian beliefs.
For eight years, Keziah Ridgeway had been a decorated African-American History teacher at Northeast High School, but the district put her on administrative leave in September 2024 to investigate allegations of antisemitism.
According to the federal civil rights lawsuit she’s now filed against the district, it said Jewish parents alleged antisemitism when Ridgeway supported students who wore “Free Palestine” buttons.
Her attorney, Spencer Hill, said the district took action when Ridgeway threatened to expose the parents who were harassing her.
"When she did that, within a week the school district suspended her, put her on administrative leave, sent her home for an entire school year,” said Hill. “They did that to silence her, and that is textbook First Amendment retaliation."
In the suit, Ridgeway also claims that over the years she spoke up multiple times against instances of discrimination — including a time a white teacher called her a terrorist — and the district did nothing.
"Their deliberate indifference to those complaints fostered a culture of hostility that was present at Northeast High School and pervasive throughout the district,” Hill said.
After the antisemitism investigation, the lawsuit said the district ultimately reprimanded Ridgeway with a five-day unpaid suspension and reassignment outside of Northeast High School.
The school district told KYW Newsradio that it would not comment on pending litigation.