BERKELEY — A teacher who was put on administrative leave three months after she was filmed hitting a man while protesting against a white supremacist rally is suing the Berkeley school district in federal court, alleging defamation and violation of her civil rights.

Yvette Felarca, a teacher at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, also is a political organizer for the anti-racist advocacy group BAMN — the initials stand for “By Any Means Necessary.”

A June 26 melee in Sacramento, in which Felarca was part of a counter-demonstration against a rally by the Traditionalist Worker Party, a white supremacy group, was reported nationwide.

On Sept. 21, the Berkeley Unified School District put Felarca on what it characterized as paid administrative leave, pending an investigation. BUSD officials have not said when their investigation might be concluded.

An investigation of the June 26 incident by the California Highway Patrol is still ongoing, a spokeswoman for that agency said Thursday.

Felarca and her supporters have said she is the victim of a witch hunt.

“The District is punishing Felarca for extending her devotion to the Latina/o, black, Muslim, other minority and immigrant students she teaches to off-duty efforts to defend their rights and basic safety outside the classroom, most importantly from the rise in racism and far-right violence that have accompanied the Trump presidential campaign,” the introduction to the suit reads in part.

“Four days after Felarca and eight other unarmed counter-protesters were stabbed by violent, armed Nazis at one of the Nazis’ recruitment rallies in Sacramento on June 26, 2016, Defendants publicly defamed Felarca and issued her a disciplinary letter that unlawfully and without due process docked her pay and ranted against her political beliefs, affiliations, and off-duty activities.”

The suit was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, by Ronald Cruz, an attorney with UEAALDF — United for Equality and Affirmative Action Legal Defense Fund. It alleges violation of Felarca’s First and Fourteenth Amendment rights; Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; and sections of the state Labor, Education, Civil and Government codes; as well as intentional infliction of emotional distress and defamation.

It seeks as yet unquantified compensatory, exemplary, punitive, and other damages, as well as an end to her involuntary leave.

The district issued a statement at the Oct. 5 board meeting, in which it noted that Felarca receives full pay and benefits while on administrative leave.

A district spokeswoman said Thursday she could not say when the district might conclude its investigation, and that there would be no further comment beyond the Oct. 5 statement for the time being.