A new lawsuit alleges famous author Nicholas Sparks of homophobia, anti-Semitism and racism, according to TMZ.
The discrimination complaint was filed by Saul Hillel Benjamin, a former headmaster at Sparks' Epiphany School for Global Studies in North Carolina. He held the position for nine months and was fired by Sparks in 2013, says New York Daily News.
The author -- whose novels have been adapted into films, including "The Notebook" and "Dear John" - allegedly "feels free, away from public, to profess and endorse vulgar and discriminatory view," according to the lawsuit. The beliefs he held, the complaint alleges, were directed against "African-Americans, lesbians, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals, and individuals of non-Christian faiths."
Sparks, the lawsuit claims, "displayed contempt for Mr. Benjamin's Jewish heritage and Quaker faith," reports Vulture. The author is said to have once told Benjamin that influential parents at the institution "will not trust [him] because of who [he is]."
Benjamin also claims that he made attempts to deal with what he saw was a racial inequality at Epiphany School, which had only two African-American students out of 514. The complaint says that Sparks responded to the former headmaster's efforts by saying "black students are too poor and can't do the academic work."
Additionally, Sparks allegedly told Benjamin, who was also a consultant for the Nicholas Sparks Foundation, that he brought "disrepute to Epiphany" when the latter publicly sat with African-Americans at an event.
The complaint also accuses the author of supporting students who bullied gay individuals at the school. Sparks "endorsed and lent support to a group of students... who viciously bullied and sought to enact a "Homo-caust" against a group of gay students, according to the lawsuit. Sparks is said to refer to the bullied students as the "Gay Club."
Benjamin is seeking punitive damages for "mental anguish and emotional distress," among others, which he claims he went through because of Spark's alleged actions.