A Port Authority service worker who claimed she was the target of a racial threat in 2007 has been fired after the authority concluded that she was involved in the incident.

Deborah Blocker, 48, who worked at the East Liberty garage, was dismissed June 9 for "prior knowledge" and "participation" in an Oct. 1, 2007, incident in which a black baby doll, bearing a racial epithet directed at an unspecified black woman, was found hanging in an employee-only area, according to her termination letter.

Ms. Blocker had been on paid leave for more than a year before her firing. She said yesterday that the allegation is baseless and that she will fight to reclaim her job.

"I know the truth. I'm not going to give up," she said. "This whole thing has completely disrupted my life."

Port Authority spokesman Jim Ritchie said he could not comment on an "ongoing personnel matter" other than to confirm that Ms. Blocker no longer is an employee.

Another service person at the garage, Tamara Clark, was fired in October in connection with the incident and is trying to win reinstatement through arbitration.

After the doll was found, police took handwriting samples and questioned employees and a Port Authority official said that criminal charges would be filed if the investigation identified the persons responsible.

Patrick McMahon, president and business agent of Local 85, Amalgamated Transit Union, said yesterday that a detective acknowledged during Ms. Clark's arbitration hearing that he lacked sufficient evidence to charge anyone.

"He said it was his opinion that they did something wrong. Well, we've all got opinions. You can't be found guilty on someone's opinion," he said.

Mr. McMahon said both Ms. Blocker and Ms. Clark were escorted off the garage premises in March 2008 and held out of work, but continued to collect their salaries.

Ms. Clark was paid for about seven months to stay home and Ms. Blocker nearly 15 months before they were fired. Ms. Clark's wage at termination was $23.24 an hour; Ms. Blocker's was $23.94, according to the Port Authority.

"They never should have held [them] off. They never had enough information to do this," Mr. McMahon said. "The Port Authority mishandled this from the beginning."

Employees found the doll hanging in a hallway near the maintenance shop in an employee-only area of the garage when they arrived for work between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. on a Monday.

Ms. Blocker, who resides in Turtle Creek, said she had the day off. "I was nowhere near that garage," she said.

She said she believes the authority is retaliating for her activities as a union representative in the maintenance department.

In addition to her union grievance, she said, she has filed a complaint with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission.