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One fired employee claims school officials called him a “freakshow” and asked if he played with Barbie dolls as a child.
A school district in New Jersey is facing lawsuits from three former employees who allege anti-LGBTQ+ hostility and bias led to the termination of their employment.
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John Berenato, Bridget Antonucci, and Lori Burns all alleged a hostile anti-LGBTQ+ work environment at the Manchester Township School District which led to their separation from the district. Berenato and Antonucci were fired while Burns resigned.
Berenato, an out gay former superintendent, filed his suit in May, Philadelphia Gay News reports.
The school board fired Berenato on November 23, 2023, while he was on medical leave. The board said he was dishonest when he failed to list a DUI from 14 years earlier as a crime on his application. Berenato disputes their claims, saying the DUI is a traffic offense and not a crime, and that he was fired because of antigay bias.
He claims board members objected to what they called his “gay agenda” and that one board member equated a trans identity with identifying as a cat.
Berenato listed a litany of other anti-LGBTQ+ abuse he said he suffered from the school board, district employees, and union leaders. He claimed he was called “f*gg*t” and “freakshow” and was asked if he played with Barbie dolls as a child.
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Berenato claims the abuse was so rampant that the board’s announcement of his firing was live-streamed on YouTube, with popcorn provided to those in attendance.
Bridget Antonucci, a former director of special services for the district, filed suit on Sept. 30, claiming a hostile work environment due to her support and allyship with Berenato, according to court documents seen by PGN.
Antonucci claims she was with Berenato when school board members “sent him disgusting derogatory texts regarding sexual acts.”
Antonucci alleges the district retaliated against her support of Berenato by denying her requests for medical accommodation after she suffered a concussion on the job in December.
The most recent suit was filed by Lori Burns on October 28, NBC Newsreports. Burns, an out lesbian, says she suffered similar abuse and was pressured to resign in May.
Burns, the district’s director of childhood development, claims she was present with Berenato at a meeting when others made “derogatory and homophobic” comments and characterized transgender people as “predatory” and “dangerous.”
The plaintiffs seek unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, as well as attorney fees and costs.
