A DeKalb County School District public safety employee has filed a whistleblower lawsuit, saying district officials retaliated against him for reporting corruption in the public safety department and sexual misconduct involving students.

The lawsuit was filed Monday on behalf of Cpl. Fredrick Joiner. Joiner, a member of the public safety department since 2014, is currently on administrative leave.

In one situation, Joiner said he informed officials at one school about a student who was sexually assaulted and an assistant principal exhibiting predatory behavior against a student. In another, he said he was assaulted by a counselor after bringing her a suicide note, and the student who wrote it.

Many incidents were backdated to avoid the appearance of delayed investigations, he said.

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Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney — pictured during a hearing Monday, Dec. 15, 2025 — has cleared the way for Georgia's State Election Board to obtain Fulton ballots and other documents from the 2020 election. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)

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