PITTSBURGH -- A former western Pennsylvania preparatory school basketball coach is suing the school, claiming he was effectively fired after complaining when the school told him he was recruiting too many blacks.

Anthony Cheatham said in the federal suit filed in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh on Monday that The Kiski School became uneasy upon learning he was recruiting blacks.

The suit said an official told him that an all-black basketball team was "not consistent with Kiski's mission."

Cheatham said he was effectively discharged last week. He's seeking unspecified damages in his lawsuit for mental anguish, loss of income and humiliation. He said he also wants his job back.

However, the school claims the basketball coach was never fired and quit his position.

“To be perfectly clear, he was not fired or terminated,” said Kiski Headmaster Christopher Brueningsen. “He quit.”

"I was completely surprised when I read the contents of the lawsuit because it was completely inconsistent with any discussions we ever had," Brueningsen said.

"In all of the conversations and meetings I've had with Anthony Cheatham, there was never one single instance where any matters of race (or) of ethnicity were ever brought up," he said.

Brueningsen said Cheatham’s recruitment was in violation of WPIAL guidelines, and though Kiski isn't a WPIAL school, it competes with them.

He said Cheatham's continued recruitment methods, like sending an email to 800 prospective students, jeopardized the school’s relationship with WPIAL.