MIAMI – A former teacher at a Florida charter high school has filed a federal lawsuit alleging he was racially discriminated and retaliated against.
Plaintiff Justin Coleman filed his complaint June 3 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Miami Division. He also is suing for sex discrimination and harassment.
The named defendant is Alee Academy Inc., a public charter high school in Eustis, which is about 35 miles northwest of Orlando.
According to the school’s website, it provides “at-risk and former dropout students the opportunity to complete their high school course work, develop vocational skills, gain employment, and earn a high school diploma.”
According to Coleman’s 17-page complaint, he worked at Alee from Aug. 3, 2021 to Oct. 29, 2021. He claims, during that time and on more than one occasion, he was subjected to a derogatory term while working.
Staff and a student, he alleges, called him the N-word. The school, he contends, did not punish the student for using the derogatory term.
“Defendant subjected Plaintiff to write-ups because of his objecting of racial discrimination. Defendant retaliated against Plaintiff for reporting racial discrimination and harassment,” alleges Coleman, who is Black.
He contends that after he reported the discrimination, the school treated him “unprofessionally.”
“Plaintiff could not reasonably continue to work for Defendant based upon its discrimination and retaliatory conduct,” the complaint states, pointing out the school’s staff didn’t subject non-Black teachers to such epithets.
Coleman also is suing the school for sex discrimination and harassment under Title IX, noting the public charter school receives or has received federal funding.
Title IX is a federal civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in education programs and activities that receive federal funds. The law covers a wide range of sex-based discrimination, including sexual harassment and assault.
“Defendant permitted its student to refer to Plaintiff as ‘pussy,’ which is a term that is associated with females or effeminate men,” the complaint states.
“Defendant permitted its student to refer to Plaintiff as ‘bitch,’ which is a derogatory term towards women and men that do not meet a predetermined sexual stereotype.”
Coleman contends the school’s staff treated him worse because of the “sexual interest of an administrator towards a student that challenged the manhood of Plaintiff.”
He notes that the school’s charter board members, Jennings Neeld and Leah Fischer, voted against resolving his claims without litigation.
In March 2022, Coleman filed charges of discrimination and retaliation against Alee. In March 2025, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued notices of right to sue against the charter school. The EEOC found reasonable cause for racial discrimination and retaliation, and found that Coleman was “constructively discharged.”
Constructive discharge, in legal terms, refers to an employee's resignation being treated as if they were fired, even though they technically quit. This happens when an employer creates working conditions so intolerable that a reasonable person would feel compelled to resign.
According to Alee’s website, its staff believes, “If you treat someone the way he is, he will remain as he is. If you treat someone the way he could be and ought to be, he will become what he could be and ought to be.”
Coleman seeks a jury trial, judgment, nominal damages if and only if economic damages do not exist, back pay, front pay if reinstatement is not feasible, compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorneys’ fees, costs, pre-judgment interest, and post-judgment interest.
Mazaheri & Mazaheri, a law firm based in Frankfort, Ky., is representing Coleman.
