‘Dora The Explorer’ Voice Actress Suspended In School For Vaping, Got Her Friend Expelled
Lawrence Arboleda - Inquisitr
Fatima Ptacek, the 15-year-old actress who voices Nickelodeon’s Dora the Explorer, reportedly got suspended from school after being caught vaping inside one of the institution’s bathroom.
Fatima, who attends Avenues: The World School in Manhattan, allegedly got caught vaping in the school’s bathroom with two of her fellow students last December, the New York Daily News reports. Ptacek got suspended by the school for three days. The other student she got caught with, however, was expelled and forced to enroll in a new school midyear. The third student was the luckiest one as she was not punished at all.
The voice of @DoraTheExplorer got caught #vaping at school. Her flavor of choice? Caramel. https://t.co/QL7GbA8SYZ pic.twitter.com/zjOvfrLVcD
— Dallas Morning News (@dallasnews) April 12, 2016
The parents of the 14-year-old former student who got expelled by the school filed a lawsuit Monday, claiming that Avenues: The World School in Manhattan gave Ptacek special treatment on account of her reputation as the voice actress for Dora the Explorer.
The parents claimed in the lawsuit that their daughter wanted to appear cool to her friend and the Dora actress, which was why she was easily peer-pressured into smoking “caramel-flavoured water through a vapour pen” with them inside the school’s bathroom.
The suit also claims that Fatima and their daughter denied the incident at first because they were “overwhelmed by fear.” The parents, Nadia Leonelli and Fredrik Sundwal, added that their child had never got into trouble even once before she met the Dora the Explorer voice actress.
“The fact that F.P. is a known actress for being the voice of Dora Explorer may have played a role in why she was ultimately not expelled even after the school threatened as much, and M.S. was expelled instead
as a scapegoat,” writes the parents in their lawsuit.
As mentioned in the lawsuit, the parents reportedly want their daughter to be reinstated into the school and are seeking $40,000 in damages to cover tuition payments and legal fees. They’ve reportedly spent $10,000 in legal fees to contest the school’s “inappropriate decision” and haven’t received a refund for their $40,000 tuition despite their daughter being suspended midyear.
School spokesperson Bruce Bobbin declined to comment on the case, saying that all disciplinary matters being handled by the institution are treated privately.
“Matters involving litigation and discipline of students are private and confidential,” said the school’s spokesperson.
Ptacek reportedly wrote a “confession note” following the incident, claiming that the vaping pen was given to her by a male student. Her publicist hasn’t responded to calls for comment.
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