Ex-Superintendent's Lawsuit Alleges Manchester School Board Fired Him Because He's Gay

MANCHESTER, NJ — The former superintendent of the Manchester Township School District has filed a lawsuit against the district and the Board of Education, alleging he was fired because he was openly gay.

John Berenato was fired Nov. 7 by the Manchester Board of Education in the wake of an uproar over a lawsuit filed by Whiting Elementary School Principal Evelyn Swift, who alleged age, gender and racial discrimination and accused Berenato of harassing her with the intent of prompting her to retire.

Berenato's suit, filed Wednesday in Superior Court in Ocean County, accuses the Manchester school board of "[C]aving to local political pressure to prevent those with different sexual orientations from having equal access to township schools and their administration."

Manchester Township School District officials declined to comment on the suit because it involves litigation and personnel matters.

Berenato was hired in February 2022 to succeed David Trethaway, who retired as Manchester's superintendent after 14 years and after 45 years in education. His five-year contract was terminated Nov. 7, 2023 after three weeks of turmoil in the wake of a Patch article about Swift's lawsuit. (You can read about the Swift lawsuit here.)

The reasons for his firing were not stated at the Nov. 7 school board meeting.

In his lawsuit, Berenato alleges pervasive hostility and bias toward him from the start of the recruitment process from the community and the school district. He also alleges a denial of due process when he was fired, saying the board used a conviction for driving under the influence in 2010 as reason to say he lied on his employment application when he said he had no criminal record.

Berenato accused all but two of the members of the Manchester school board of making discriminatory or inappropriate remarks regarding him being gay, including:

• Alleging school board President Gayle Mount asked why he didn't "choose an easier life" by "deciding" to just be straight and "expressed surprise that gays were allowed to adopt children."
• Alleging board member Laura Wingler made comments about him referencing him performing oral sex and "made a series of sexually inappropriate comments and sent text communications to Plaintiff, some of which were motivated by his sexual orientation."
• Citing board member Gina Georgiano's remarks during a candidates' forum for the school board election where she said she "would not support a transgender policy because she did not believe that the rights of transgendered students were important, and she invoked Bible quotes in her opposition."
• Alleging board member George Cervenack of screaming at him over "gender-neutral graduation gowns being used at one school’s graduation ceremony (a single-colored gown with the same colored sash for all students, regardless of gender)." Berenato's suit says the students voted on and chose the gown.
• Alleging board member Timothy Poss said gay men had hit on him because of his physique.

Berenato's lawsuit also cites the board's opposition to policies from the state Department of Education regarding the treatment of transgender students and opposition to designating single-occupancy bathrooms in the schools as gender neutral for students to use, while separated multi-stall bathrooms remained marked for "boys" or "girls."

"Other than Mr. Kelliher and Mrs. Pease (Lakehurst Representative), all Board members advocated for getting rid of all transgender policies in the District, as well as any other policy that were designed to protect the civil rights of LGBTQ students," the lawsuit alleges.

Berenato alleges Diane Pedroza, who was appointed interim superintendent when Berenato was fired, made statements on multiple occasions about his sexual orientation being against her religious beliefs as "a devout Catholic."

"In response to recommended LGBTQ curriculum (pursuant to DOE guidelines or recommendations), Ms. Pedroza stated to Plaintiff that she did not want to make the curriculum in the district “too gay” and that the community would not accept gay content in the curriculum," the lawsuit alleges.

Berenato alleged Dennis Adams, principal at Manchester Township High School and a local church pastor, "openly opposed the use of a transgender substitute teacher at the High School level ... and stated it would 'send the wrong message' to students," and that Adams "became visibly angry with Plaintiff for purchasing a shirt for the GSA (Gay Student Association) to raffle off to a student, and expressed that Plaintiff was 'supporting his people.' "

He alleges that Daniel Staples, president of the Manchester Township Education Association, was openly hostile to Berenato due to his sexual orientation and that the MTEA, "on its social media sites, made and permitted highly discriminatory comments relating to Plaintiff and his sexual orientation."

As for the Swift lawsuit, Berenato alleges it was orchestrated with his assistant, Cheryl Mackenzie, and rooted in bias against him because of his sexual orientation.

"Ms. Swift expressed to Plaintiff that it must have been hard for Plaintiff’s parents when he came out of the closet, because she would not be able to accept it if one of her kids were gay," the lawsuit alleges. "Swift was open about her discriminatory belief toward homosexuals and Mr. Berenato."

Berenato said he had been cleared of the discrimination claim through an investigation conducted on behalf of the district in September 2023.

" Plaintiff is the father to a baby of color, and never engaged in racial discrimination," the lawsuit states.

Swift's lawsuit, filed in October 2023, remains active, according to New Jersey court records.

Berenato's lawsuit demands compensatory damage for loss of wages and other employment benefits and for emotional distress, along with punitive damages.