Atlanta

Former fire chief calls $1.2M settlement with city 'well worth the fight'

ATLANTA — The city of Atlanta will pay $1.2 million to settle a federal lawsuit filed by its former fire chief after he wrote a controversial faith-based book.

The city council approved the payout to Kelvin Cochran on a vote of 11-3 at its meeting Monday night.
Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Aaron Diamant broke the story about Cochran's book nearly four years ago. The self-published faith-based book compared homosexuality to bestiality.

Diamant spoke one-on-one with Cochran on Tuesday, who said he was glad the ordeal is over.

“It’s been well worth the fight,” Cochran said. “I was surprised. I mean, I had braced myself for the long haul, and you know, was determined to see it all the way through.”

Diamant asked Cochran if he understood why some people thought his book was troublesome.

“No, because in that same sequence, there were 17, what the Bible calls, works of the flesh and that was one of the 17.”

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Former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed fired Cochran two months after a city investigation found Cochran published the book without proper permission and then handed it out to subordinates.

An advocacy group filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on Cochran’s behalf over what he called “unjust termination.”

“He imposed adverse consequences against me for publicly living out my faith, writing a book on my own private time and that was unjust,” Cochran told Diamant.

“The remarks were not what we value and who we are as a city,” current Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said.

Bottoms said settling the case was a business decision.

“There were some rulings that were made by the court that put into question the extent of what the city’s exposure would be in terms of paying out damages and litigations fees,” Bottoms said.

Reed emailed Diamant a statement saying:

“I am deeply disappointed in the City’s decision. I believed, and continue to believe, that his actions, decisions, and lack of judgment undermined his ability to effectively manage a large, diverse workforce. This decision sends the wrong message to individuals in the LGBTQ community and to all Atlantans.”

“He has a right to his opinion. I disagree with his opinion. I still honor and respect Mayor Reed today,” Cochran said.