A former headmaster at a school started by Nicholas Sparks filed a lawsuit alleging the bestselling author of some pretty disturbing things.
Saul Benjamin was fired in 2013 as head of the Epiphany School of Global Studies, a Christian school in North Carolina which was founded by Sparks. Benjamin is suing for discrimination, claiming the author is a bigot who ultimately forced him out of the job for trying to encourage diversity. Via The Guardian:
The 47-page complaint is filled with a range of accusations against Sparks, including that he endorsed a group of students who attempted to enact a "homo-caust" against a group of gay students and that he told people the plaintiff, Saul Benjamin, had Alzheimer's.
Benjamin, the former head of Sparks' Epiphany School of Global Studies in North Carolina, said in the complaint that the "greatest fiction" Sparks created was that he is a proponent of diversity and inclusiveness.
The lawsuit states Benjamin was directed to "engage only in private and less visible contact with African Americans." Benjamin alleges his efforts to diversify the school enraged Sparks, who once reportedly told him "black students are too poor and can't do the academic work." According to the lawsuit, Benjamin was once forced to stand in front of students and justify his Jewish faith, while parents lobbed insults at him.
A lawyer for the author responded to TMZ about the lawsuit on Thursday:
Scott Schwimer, Sparks' entertainment lawyer, tells TMZ, "As a gay, Jewish man who has represented Nick for almost 20 years I find these allegations completely ludicrous and offensive." Sparks' lawyer for this case, Theresa Sprain, adds, "We deny these allegations."
According to the Guardian, Benjamin is also suing the school, the Nicholas Sparks Foundation, the Epiphany school and Missy Blackerby, Tracy Lorentzen and Ken Gray who are members of the school's board of trustees.
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