EEOC finds bias in forced resignation of Debbie Almontaser
Saturday, March 13, 2010 A federal commission has determined that New York City's Department of Education discriminated against the founding principal of an Arabic-language public school by forcing her to resign in 2007 following a storm of controversy driven by opponents of the school.
Acting on a complaint filed last year by the principal, , the United States found that the department "succumbed to the very bias that creation of the school was intended to dispel and a small segment of the public succeeded in imposing its prejudices on D.O.E. as an employer," according to a letter issued by the commission on Tuesday.
The commission said that the department had discriminated against Ms. Almontaser, a Muslim of Yemeni descent, "on account of her race, religion and national origin."
The findings, which are nonbinding, could mark a turning point in Ms. Almontaser's battle to reclaim her job as principal of the school, the Khalil Gibran International Academy in Brooklyn.