Former JROTC instructors accuse Atlanta schools of discrimination, retaliation in lawsuit

ATLANTA — Two former South Atlanta High School JROTC instructors charged that Atlanta Public Schools officials launched “a sustained campaign of retaliation” after they reported alleged sex discrimination against them, according to a federal lawsuit filed Monday.

Retired Army Capt. Maurice Bonner and retired 1st Sgt. Dave O’Garro alleged in the suit that APS officials disciplined them more severely for lesser infractions than a female colleague and then retaliated against them by wrongfully convincing the Army to remove their JROTC certifications. The suit names Atlanta Public Schools and three officials — South Atlanta High principal Phillip Braziel; APS’s Army instruction director Mona Venning; and James Harris, Venning’s deputy director — as defendants.

Atlanta Public Schools “systematically held both male instructors to a more demanding and punitive standard than [retired Army Sgt. 1st Class Marquita] Hadley, shielded Hadley from consequences for documented insubordination and policy violations, and retaliated against Plaintiffs when they opposed that disparate treatment,” the lawsuit charges.

Bonner and O’Garro are seeking to be reinstated as SAHS JROTC instructors as well as back pay and millions of dollars in punitive damages, according to the suit.

An Atlanta Public Schools spokesman said Wednesday he could not comment on the lawsuit. Bonner and O’Garro remain employed by APS while on administrative leave, said Jonathan Sheffield, the APS spokesman.

“APS is committed to maintaining a professional, equitable and respectful workplace for all employees and ensuring that our students have instructors who are fully qualified and certified,” Sheffield said in an emailed statement. “The district takes allegations of discrimination and retaliation seriously and follows established processes for reviewing and addressing such concerns.”

According to the lawsuit, issues began after Bonner reported to district officials several instances in which Hadley engaged in “repeated, documented acts of insubordination” and “undermined” his authority. Bonner served as the high school’s senior JROTC instructor since 2023. He served more than 20 years in the Army initially as an enlisted information technology specialist and later as a signal officer.

District officials substantiated two of those complaints, yet Hadley faced no discipline or corrective action, according to the complaint.

Meanwhile, Bonner and O’Garro faced discipline for lesser offenses after filing the reports, they said.

Bonner was disciplined for South Atlanta High’s failure to attend a JROTC drill meet, which Bonner charged was Hadley’s responsibility. Hadley was not disciplined, according to the lawsuit.

O’Garro, who also served more than 20 years in the Army before he became a JROTC instructor at South Atlanta High in 2010, said he was disciplined for placing two Honor Guard dummy rifles in his personal vehicle. Meanwhile, Hadley, he said, was not punished for falsely reporting all JROTC “equipment was secured” at that time.

Both men filed complaints alleging discrimination to U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), in September 2025.

Bonner and O’Garro said Atlanta Public Schools retaliated against them for filing the EEOC complaint with further disciplinary actions. That included an effort through the Army chain of command to have the instructors decertified, which relied in part on allegations that were rejected after a review by a district panel which recommended against their termination.

Army Cadet Command removed their credentials in June based on the allegations provided by Atlanta Public Schools after “the district took no step to withdraw or correct the referral it had already sent to the” Army, according to the lawsuit.

The school system placed them on administrative leave and replaced them at South Atlanta High after their credentials were removed, according to the lawsuit.

The pair did not name the Army or the Defense Department as a defendant in the lawsuit, citing a pending review at Cadet Command of the decision to remove their JROTC certifications. A lawyer for the men, Arnold Lizana, said the pair retained the right to sue the Army and Pentagon.

Cadet Command did not return a request for comment on the lawsuit on Wednesday.

Lizana said the decertification should not have happened and without correction will end his clients’ teaching careers.

“The district’s own fair dismissal tribunal heard these allegations and found them unproven,” said Lizana. “At that point Atlanta Public Schools could have told the Army the charges had not held up. It did not. Instead, the district allowed the process it initiated to run its course to the end of their JROTC careers.”