MANCHESTER – A complaint by a former employee of the school district alleging she was dismissed on the basis of bias has been filed in New Jersey Superior Court.
The legal filings allege staff members of the district voiced anti-gay animosity and antisemitic remarks as well as retaliatory discrimination against those who objected to such animosity.
Linwood Attorney Robert P. Mernich recently filed the lawsuit on behalf of former school district employee Bridget Antonucci who served as director of special services.
The complaint alleges that she was threatened and discriminated against due to her support of the district’s former superintendent, John Berenato whose five-year contract was cut short after he was fired during a special meeting on November 7, 2023.
Antonucci was also named as a defendant in the discrimination lawsuit that led to Berenato’s dismissal as someone who either assisted or took no action regarding a principal’s complaints of bias in regards to race and age.
Antonucci’s contract was not renewed last spring. She began working for the district in January 2022 having been hired by former Superintendent David Trethaway 30 days prior to Berenato starting as superintendent. Her contract expired in May.
The lawsuit filed on September 30 alleges School Board member Gayle Mount and then interim Superintendent Diane Pedroza, “freely voiced bigoted intolerance, harassment and maltreatment of members of the LGBTQIA2S+ community, Orthodox Jewish, Hispanic, and multi-lingual learners’ communities, and retaliated against her after she objected to their animosity.”
Antonucci said she drafted a bid application which was responsible for the school district being awarded $3.2 million in August of 2022, the highest grant total in New Jersey for preschool program expansion.
The lawsuit alleges that Mount voted against preschool expansion and while Antonucci was still writing the preschool expansion grant, Mount told her while at the Atlantic City Airport where they ran into each other: “I had to pay for my kids’ preschool. Those dirtbags (members of the Orthodox Jewish community and Hispanic community) could pay too.”
The litigation also includes an allegation that antisemitic remarks were made by Superintendent Pedroza on February 2 of this year during a recorded meeting, about the Orthodox Jewish community. Pedroza was named the interim superintendent on the night that Berenato was removed from his position last year.
Antonucci expressed discomfort concerning those remarks and emailed Pedroza on March 7, concerning the February 2 meeting. The lawsuit states, “you made comments that left me feeling very uncomfortable that I would be remiss in not addressing, as it has caused me stress and I regret not addressing it during that time, but was fearful of additional retaliation, as evident in each time I have reported something to you; i.e your request to give MLL [Multi Language Learners] students a 504 and place them in a special education class.”
“That being said, I feel strongly about the philosophy we teach our students: See something, Hear something, then Say something,” Antonucci stated in the lawsuit.
She also stated, “at this meeting, and on the audio record, you spoke about the “Orthodox” and “Hasidic” community. You explained that “they” are moving their renters (the ESL students) into their rental units and then alluded to double dipping with ESL services and collecting aid in lieu, something you and Michelle Boyle are working on.”
“Comments like, ‘The problem is you are seeing them slowly come over…’ are offensive,” Antonucci stated within the complaint. She also claims that Pedroza made such comments previously.
According to the lawsuit, Antonucci states that Pedroza also ignored requests she made for medical accommodations that caused her further stress after she suffered a concussion from an accident at work in December 2023.
The Manchester Times contacted the School District for comment on this story and to clarify other information concerning current litigation matters. The district’s communications officer Dina Silvestri responded stating “the Manchester Township School District cannot provide any comment or information regarding pending litigation.” The school district has 35 days to answer the complaint from the date it was received.
In 2022, JerseyShoreOnline published an article announcing Antonucci’s hire. It noted she previously served as the director of student services in the Upper Freehold Regional School District. Prior to that, she was the director of special education with the Bradley Beach Board of Education. At the time, she said she lived in Red Bank with her husband and two adult children.
She is a former committeewoman of Hazlet Township who put her name in the ring for a county seat in 2006, according to The Observer.
In 2002, she filed a six-count complaint against the Hazlet district and school board unsuccessfully fighting the non-renewal of her contract as a special education teacher.
An Earlier Complaint
A complaint was also lodged in May by Berenato against the school district in New Jersey Superior Court in Ocean County that included allegations that he was fired on the basis of his sexual orientation and that the school district/school board fosters an environment of bigotry.
His firing came shortly after a lawsuit was filed by Whiting Elementary School Principal Evelyn Swift who accused him of age and gender discrimination. She also accused Berenato of harassing her and trying to get her to retire. This was the lawsuit that also named Antonucci.
Berenato was hired in February 2022 to take over for Trethaway who retired at the end of January of that year. No specific reasons were provided for his removal by the Board of Education at the November 2023 special meeting. He alleges that due process was denied him when he was terminated and that Board members used a 2010 conviction of driving while under the influence as a reason to why he had lied on his application for employment which asked if he had ever had a criminal record.
His lawsuit includes the allegation that Mount had asked him why he had not chosen “an easier life” by “deciding” to be heterosexual and had expressed surprise that gay people were permitted to adopt children.
He also alleged that Board member Laura Wingler had made comments about him referencing performing oral sex and had made sexually inappropriate remarks and text communications.
His lawsuit also alleges that Board member Gina Georgiano stated she would not support a transgender policy because she did not believe that the rights of transgendered students were important and that Board member George Cervenack had screamed at him over gender-neutral graduation gowns being used at a school graduation ceremony a decision he said had been made by vote of the graduating students.
He also said Board member Timothy Poss had referenced gay men hitting on him due to his build.
Berenato has stated that he was cleared of the discrimination claims from Swift’s lawsuit following an investigation conducted of the district. His lawsuit is seeking compensatory damage for loss of wages and benefits along with emotional distress plus punitive damages.
