An Alabama library board did not discriminate when it fired its Black interim director six years ago when she complained a library presentation celebrated Confederate Memorial Day, an appeals court ruled Wednesday.

Mary Harris, the former interim director of the Monroe County Public Library and a library employee for 35 years, alleged the library fired her because of her race and terminated her after she filed a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint in 2017 about the Confederate event.

At the event, which was organized by a library trustee and included a presentation on Confederate Army units based in Monroe County, Harris claimed an attendee called her “the N-word.” She also alleged the event was attended by more than 70 “known Ku Klux Klan affiliates,” and that she became uncomfortable.

The library board had a meeting with Harris after a local newspaper reported on her allegations about KKK affiliates attending the Confederate Memorial Day event. Four trustees at he meeting voted to fire Harris “due to defamation of character concerning the allegations that 70 citizens that attended a program at the library were members of the KKK.” The trustees said they believed Harris’ allegations were false because “[w]omen cannot be members of the KKK” and most of event’s attendees were women.

The EEOC complaint was dismissed by the commission because the library had fewer than 15 employee.

Harris went on to sue the board and the Monroe County Commission in federal court over her firing, but a judge dismissed her lawsuit on several grounds, including that Harris was an at-will employee and she was given a chance to be heard before she was fired. The judge also found Harris did not have a viable retaliation claim.

On Wednesday, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the lower court’s ruling.

The appeals court also found Harris was an at-will employee and did not offer direct evidence that she was discriminated against due to the color of her skin.

“She has identified no statement that, if believed, shows ‘without inference or presumption’ that she was terminated because of her race,” the court ruled.

“Ms. Harris understandably found the events at the library immensely disturbing and frightening,” the appeals court’s ruling continued. “But it is not our role in this case to rule on the propriety of the defendants’ behavior. Instead, we must apply the law to the claims before us. For the reasons set forth above, we affirm the district court’s judgment.”