Nicholas Sparks is known for his sentimental romance novels, many of which like The Best Of Me, The Notebook and Dear John have been adapted into movies. But a much darker side of the bestselling author may be coming to surface. The former headmaster of the Christian school Sparks founded is suing him, alleging some disturbingly racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic behavior.

Saul Hillel Benjamin was hired to run Spark’s Epiphany School for Global Studies before the 2013-2014 school year, but was fired shortly after. He is now saying the author created an extremely hostile environment for him and many of his students. TMZ reports that the suit claims Sparks made him stand up in front of the school and defend his Jewish heritage, and that parents hurled insults at him as the school board egged them on. ABC News adds that Sparks “insisted that Mr. Benjamin stop talking about talking about Islam, Judaism or any other non-Christian religion at school functions,” according to the lawsuit.

Benjamin also alleges that Sparks thwarted all his attempts to promote racial diversity in the school. The lawsuit claims that when he pointed out that the only had two of the school’s 514 students were African American, the author replied, “Black students are too poor and can’t do the academic work,” TMZ reports. In addition, Benjamin says Sparks was furious when he met with the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP, and that he told him to “engage only in private and less visible contact with African Americans.”

Benjamin also claims that Sparks ignored claims by gay students that they were being bullied, and even supported a student group that wanted to stage a so-called “homo-caust.”

ABC reports that Sparks allegedly locked Benjamin in a room and shouted at him until he wrote his resignation letter last November. The former headmaster says that Sparks later told people to he has Alzheimer's so they should ignore his claims. The lawsuit seeks lost income and punitive damages against the author, three members of the school board, and the Nicholas Sparks Foundation.

Unsurprisingly, Sparks’ camp is denying the claims. His entertainment lawyer, Scott Schwimer says, “As a gay, Jewish man who has represented Nick for almost 20 years, I find these allegations completely ludicrous and offensive.” Theresa Sprain, the attorney handling this lawsuit, added in a statement to Gossip Cop, “We deny these allegations as presented in the complaint. We will vigorously defend this matter and look forward to pursuing any available remedies.”