Joshua Bonadona is suing Louisiana College over what he says was racial discrimination after his hiring as an assistant football coach was revoked because of his "Jewish descent."
Bonadona was born and raised in a Jewish household and practiced that faith upon enrolling at Louisiana College in 2008. However, Bonadona converted to Christianity while in college, something that he says was known throughout the Southern Baptist school of 1,300 students.
After earning a role on special teams as a player, Bonadona joined the staff upon his 2013 graduation as co-special teams coordinator and defensive backs coach. He remained in that post until 2015, when he left to join the Southeast Missouri staff as a graduate assistant.
Louisiana College went through a coaching change ahead of the 2017 season, and the new head coach -- Justin Charles -- reached out to Bonadona to return to his alma mater as defensive backs coach. According to the suit, Bonadona was the only candidate for the job and was more or less hired by Charles, pending approval by school president Dr. Rick Brewer.
And that's when, as the suit alleges, things went haywire. (View the entire suit here.)
The defensive backs job went unfilled for the 2017 season, and now Bonadona is seeking backpay and punitive damages, among other things, according to the racial protects installed by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Of note: Brewer was not Louisiana College's president when Bonadona was first hired onto the staff after his playing career completed. Brewer was hired in April of 2015, while Bonadona left for Southeast Missouri two months after that, according to the suit.
As the facts are laid out in the suit, it seems the entire case centers around the testimony of head coach Justin Charles. Either Dr. Brewer told Charles what Bonadona is saying he did -- and thus the suit has merit -- or Dr. Brewer never said it and Bonadona is bringing a vicious lie against his alma mater. And there doesn't seem to be much of an in between.
(HT Dr. Saturday)