The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has ruled that the city discriminated against a former interim principal of a Brooklyn Arabic school, after she was fired for defending the Arabic word "intifada" in the media.

A federal court had previously found that Khalil Gibran International Academy principal Debbie Almontaser, a Yemen native, was not wrongfully fired for refusing to condemn a T-shirt featuring the slogan "Infitada NYC."

She said "intifada," which in Arabic means "uprising," had non-violent origins.

However, the EEOC ruled the school district pushed Almontaser out, not because of her actual remarks, but instead to quiet the series of sensationalized tabloid reports about her comments that played on anti-Muslim fears.

The City Law Department said in a statement Friday, "The EEOC's finding is without any basis whatsoever. The DOE in no way discriminated against Ms. Almontaser and she will not be reinstated."

Almontaser is seeking to be reinstated as a principal, and demands lost wages and $300,000 in damages.