THE headteacher of an Arabic-language school who was sacked her for publicly defending students who wore shirts with the words “Intifada NYC” has won her discrimination case against her employers.
New York’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said the Education Department “succumbed to the very biasthat creation of the school was intended to dispel”, the New York Post reported.
Debbie Almontaser, who worked at the Khalil Gibran International Academy in Brooklyn, told the New York Post in 2007 that “intifada” on the shirts meant simply “shaking off oppression” and was not an endorsement of the Palestinian uprising against Israel.
But the comments led to widespread calls for her to be fired.
“The (commission’s) finding is without any basis whatsoever,” said Paul Marks, deputy chief of labor and employment at the city’s law department.
Ms Almontaser is seeking more than $US300,000 ($327,000) in compensation for court costs, lost wages and pain and suffering, and also wants her job back.
The equality commission has asked both parties to negotiate a settlement.
