JROTC instructors sue Atlanta Public Schools over alleged retaliation for sex discrimination complaints

Two Army veterans have filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Atlanta Public Schools, saying that they were retaliated against after speaking up about alleged sex discrimination.

Retired 1st Sgt. Dave W. O'Garro and retired Capt. Maurice Bonner both taught Junior ROTC at South Atlanta High School and filed their lawsuit against APS, the Atlanta Independent School System, and individual employees on Monday.

According to the lawsuit, both men filed EEOC charges against APS in September 2025, alleging that they were held to a more demanding standard than another JROTC instructor, who is a woman. The two men claim that the woman violated policies and that two internal complaints they made about her conduct were substantiated during an investigation. However, they say she was never disciplined.

After O'Garro and Bonner filed the EEOC charges, they claim that district officials created "retaliatory, factually unsupported investigative findings," sending them through the JROTC to eventually get their certification to teach Junior ROTC revoked.

Less than two months after filing his charges, O'Garro says that APS officials removed him from his workplace, placing him on a "Temporary Reassignment to Home" and prohibiting him from district facilities. An independent hearing over the charges APS filed against him eventually cleared him in March, which the school board later adopted in May.

"This conduct was frequent and sustained, recurring from at least October 2025 through July 2026; it was severe, including more than one express threat to 'get rid of' him and a referral threatening the permanent end of his JROTC career; it was humiliating and undermined his professional standing before the cadets and colleagues he had served for fifteen years; and it unreasonably interfered with and materially altered the terms and conditions of his employment, culminating in his removal from the classroom," part of the lawsuit about O'Garro's experience reads.

Bonner claims that he was suspended after making his complaints. The lawsuit also alleges that he was put on probation from Cadet Command based on a packet supplied by APS that included a letter with a forged signature from a former principal.

While APS renewed the employment for both men for the 2026-2027 school year, the veterans say they were put on administrative leave and ordered to cease all APS and JROTC duties on July 15. They then claim that APS transferred one instructor and hired another one to replace them at South Atlanta High School. 

The two men are demanding back pay, lost wages, attorney fees and other damages as determined by a jury.

While a spokesperson for the school district said they could not comment on the pending litigation, they noted that both men remain employed by Atlanta Public Schools.

"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," the spokesperson said in a statement. "The district takes allegations of discrimination and retaliation seriously and follows established processes for reviewing and addressing such concerns."