Two high-ranking DeKalb County School District employees have filed a lawsuit against the district, its interim superintendent, and chief human resources director, claiming they were improperly suspended and demoted.
Kia Billingsley, the former chief academic officer, and Michelle Dillard, who was the district’s chief of schools, both claim in their respective May 18 lawsuits that the demotions stemmed from an argument the two had in late April, and that they were denied due process by the district’s HR representative.
Both are suing the school system, Norman C. Sauce, the district’s interim superintendent, and Tasha Davis Mills, the chief human resources officer, for breach of contract and negligence of a ministerial task.
Billingsley said in the lawsuit that she has been with DCSD for 18 years, serving as chief academic officer since January 2026.
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Dillard said in the lawsuit that she had moved her family from Kentucky to Georgia in 2023 and that she “was not hired as falsely claimed due to any alleged friendship she had with the previous superintendant [Devon Horton] (again, part of the smear campaign against her).”
Both plaintiffs claim that Sauce saw them as possible competitors for the full-time superintendent position.
After both reported what was described as a “spat” or “dispute” that occurred on April 28, Dillard, in her suit, said Sauce told her to make a statement about the incident. On May 13, Davis Mills gave Dillard a 30-day unpaid suspension, removed her from her current position, and reassigned her to the IT Department.
In her suit, Billingsley said she had a spat with Dillard, who was a “colleague and her sorority sister,” while in a meeting attended by two other members of Sauce’s executive team. She said that she discussed the incident with Sauce, who said “mistakes happen,” and expressed that he still believed that “she was the person to sit in that seat.”
However, following a presentation to the DeKalb Board of Education the following day, Davis Mills told Billingsley to “go home, stating that there would be an investigation.”
Billingsley said she was informed of her “insulting” demotion under duress, subjecting her to “embarrassment, ridicule, and diminished reputation.”
Billingsley said Davis Mills “has a history of violating educators’ civil rights by doing such things as forcing educators to give recorded statements that school officials surreptitiously turn over to law enforcement, thereby exposing the educators to criminal liability.”
Dillard, in her suit, accused the school system of knowing that Davis Mills “has a history, pattern, and practice of illegally violating the contractual rights of employees at the District.”
Both have demanded jury trials.
When asked for comment, a DCSD representative said, “Due to pending litigation, and consistent with standard practice, we cannot comment further at this time.”
