Dora The Explorer Is Part Of A Surprising Lawsuit

When most of us think of Dora the Explorer, we think happy childhood memories of singing along with Dora and her map — not that she would eventually grow up to be involved in an unfortunate lawsuit. But it seems like that's happening to the voice actor who has been behind everyone's favorite bilingual explorer since 2012, Fátima Ptacek. As the New York Post reports, a lawsuit filed by the parents of one of Ptacek's classmates claims that the Dora the Explorer star peer pressured a classmate into vaping. According to the New York Post, the classmate's parents brought a civil suit against Avenues: The World School urging it to reinstate their daughter, who they claim received a harsher punishment than Ptacek did when the incident happened.

Bustle reached out to Ptacek's rep for comment, but has not yet heard back. Avenues: The World School released a short but concise statement to the New York Post: "Matters involving litigation and discipline of students are private and confidential."

According to the New York Daily News, in the papers, which were filed in December by parents Nadia Leonelli and Fredrik Sundwall, the parents claim that Ptacek pressured their 14-year-old daughter into using a vape pen that contained caramel-flavored water. When they got caught by school officials, the New York Post reports, the documents state that Leonelli and Sundwall's daughter was expelled, while Ptacek only received a three-day suspension. In the suit, the girls are addressed as M.S. and F.P., but it's made clear that the 15-year-old Dora actor is involved because it later references the show, according to Pix 11 News.

According to the New York Post, the papers read,

[M.S.] was approached by her friend, F.P., who is a year older in 10th grade at Avenues, to go into the bathroom and try smoking flavored water vapor in a "vape" pen that F.P. had borrowed from a fellow 10th grade classmate .... [M.S.] was reluctant to try but gave in to peer pressure, wanting to appear ‘cool’ in front of F.P. because she is older than M.S. and is a celebrity, being the actress who does the voice of Dora the Explorer on television and having a movie nominated for the Oscars.

Leonelli and Sundwall claim that they've spent over $10,000 in fighting the school's decision.