A Detroit high school teacher plans to take legal action against her former employer after she was fired because parents complained that she’s a rapper in her spare time.
Domonique Brown, a 32-year-old history teacher, was just named teacher of the month at Detroit’s Taylor Preparatory High School in December. Now, three months after that, she’s been let go from her job because of her “side hustle.”
Last October, an anonymous parent complained about the fact that Brown is a rapper on the side. The teacher fought with the district for five months before she was finally let go from her job.
Recently, Brown commented on the situation:
“The first meeting was with my dean and my principal, and they were just telling me, ‘Hey, a parent said that they’ve seen your social media, and that you’re a bad influence because you’re a rapper.’”
The parent filed the complaint against Brown after they saw her in a music video that’s titled DRIPPIN 101. Brown raps under the name DrippinHoney.
The video in question has been viewed more than 34,000 times on YouTube and has more than 600 comments. The issue the parent has with the video is that it features many explicit lyrics and language throughout.
In the majority of the video, young adults are dancing in a parking lot while Brown raps.
Even though her rap songs are explicit in nature, Brown says that her side career as a musician shouldn’t at all be associated with the job that she does at the high school.
She commented recently:
“I was like, ‘Hey well can we tell that parent to come in and see professionalism, see me in a classroom, see me after school, see me at all the games, see me dropping kids off everyday, buying food? Can they come see me in my element before they try to say I’m unprofessional in it?’
“My outside life should not be grounds for termination when it does not interfere with my ability to fulfill my responsibility as a teacher. My dedication, professionalism and passion for education have always been unwavering, regardless of any personal pursuits I may have.”
Brown says that the school district discriminated against her when it fired her because she raps on the side. The former teacher had asked for a formal complaint to be filed in writing, but she never received that.
In addition to teaching for the last seven years, Brown is also pursuing a master’s degree and one day says she wants to get her doctorate.
Brown told media outlets recently that she has plans to hire a lawyer and file a lawsuit against the school.
For its part, the high school released a statement about the matter. It reads:
“Student well-being remains at the forefront of everything we do, and we will continue fostering a distraction-free teaching and learning environment focused on student success.”
