India, July 30 -- A seasoned English professor at South Florida State College has initiated federal legal proceedings against her former institution, alleging that her constitutional rights were blatantly violated when she was fired for teaching a widely recognised piece of contemporary literature.

Vinita Prabhakar, who spent nearly two decades instructing university students, was dismissed unceremoniously after assigning Ottessa Moshfegh's award-winning short story "Bettering Myself" in her Freshman English II course, according to The New York Times.

The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida with the backing of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, argues that public college adminis...