A lawsuit against Fresno Unified alleges that a high-level district official paid her subordinate for sex, and then when he cut off the relationship, she made threats against him and his employment.

The alleged retaliation against the plaintiff included sending him — a Black man — a story about a Black man found dead hanging from a tree at Woodward Park.

What’s more, attorney Ben Sagaser, representing Ja’Vance Coleman, says in the complaint filed earlier this month that former director of human resources Manjit Atwal was known to have relationships with Black men under her supervision and the district took months to discipline her.

After putting Atwal on paid administrative leave sometime early in the 2025-26 school year, the district asked her to resign, which she did in March, according to the complaint. Sagaser, however, asserts that the district had known about Atwal’s behavior long before that, even initiating an investigation into her.

Sagaser told GV Wire that given the alleged behavior, Atwal should not have received nearly an entire school year of paid leave and the opportunity to quit.

He said that with the lawsuit against Atwal and three other lawsuits against Fresno Unified from his firm, the School Board should investigate the circumstances and reasoning behind an employment approach that seemingly rewards wrongdoing.

“A supervisor who pays another employee for sexual favors and threatens that employee’s life, family, and career when the employee refuses his supervisor’s advances should be terminated immediately,” Sagaser told GV Wire. “That supervisor should not be placed on extended leave and ultimately afforded the opportunity to resign.”

Fresno Unified did not respond to requests for comment. Attempts to reach Atwal by GV Wire were unsuccessful.

Atwal Allegedly Pays Coleman After Fresno Unified Reassigns Him

Shortly after getting hired in spring 2023 as a noontime assistant at an elementary school, Coleman found himself at the district office working in the human resources department under Atwal.

Within a month of the transfer, the complaint states that Atwal “propositioned” Coleman for sexual favors.

The complaint states that Coleman had learned that “Atwal had a pattern of threatening the jobs or job-related benefits of Black employees in exchange for sexual acts,” so he accepted.

“Mr. Coleman learned from coworkers that Ms. Atwal sexually harassed at least one other Black male employee and threatened other female employees she believed might be interested in the men she was sexually harassing,” Sagaser told GV Wire.

Coleman was eventually transferred to an elementary school to work as a campus safety assistant, the complaint states. The demotion came after other employees and administrators began to suspect sexual harassment by Atwal toward Coleman.

Coleman’s Pay Cut by $10 an Hour

His pay dropped from $35 an hour to $25.

The relationship continued and Atwal paid Coleman as a way to make up the difference in salary, according to the complaint. Coleman, a single father, has two children.

The complaint states Atwal gave Coleman cash and made purchases through her Target card “so that her husband would not notice the purchases.”

At some point, the district initiated an investigation, and Atwal allegedly offered Coleman $300 to lie to the investigator about their relationship. The complaint states that Atwal used position and power to control him.

“Mr. Coleman found the entire experience distressing,” Sagaser told GV Wire. “Accepting money from Atwal for sexual acts was the only way he could supplement his reduction in pay. Additionally, tolerating Atwal’s harassment was the only way to avoid Atwal’s emotional outbursts and threats to his job, well-being, and family.”

Atwal’s Alleged Retaliation

Toward the end of 2025, Coleman broke off the relationship, and that’s when, according to the complaint, Atwal’s behavior changed toward Coleman.

Atwal allegedly began driving by his mom’s house and showed up there to confront him. She threatened his job, other family members who worked for the district, and said his son, who went to a Fresno Unified school, would not graduate, the lawsuit alleges.

After accusing him of stealing jewelry, she allegedly sent him the news article about the man found dead by hanging at Woodward Park. Fresno police described the death as a suspected suicide.

Sagaser in his complaint asserts that high-level district employees knew about Atwal’s behavior and punished Coleman instead.

Atwal was involved in human resources decisions surrounding three lawsuits against the district. These include an age discrimination lawsuit from school nurses, a retaliation lawsuit brought by a campus safety assistant, and a lawsuit from a whistleblower.

In the whistle blower case, a school nurse alleged that he was retaliated against when he reported improper behavior by another school nurse that may have contributed to the death of a student.