A years-long legal fight involving the former Atlanta fire chief who was canned after publishing an online hate manifesto condemning homosexuality has finally ended with the City writing him a check for over a million dollars.
A little backstory: Kelvin Cochran was canned from his job as Atlanta’s fire chief back in 2015 after self-publishing an inflammatory antigay e-book.
In Who Told You That You Were Naked?, Cochran, a self-proclaimed “devout Christian man,” meditates on the evils of gay people, calling them “vile,” “vulgar,” “perverts,” and “inappropriate,” and comparing homosexuality to bestiality.
Related: Homophobic Fire Chief In Atlanta Gets Canned Over Antigay E-Book
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When City officials got wind of the 162-page hate manifesto, they determined it violated employee guidelines and terminated Cochran’s employment. The city requires employees to first seek permission and obtain approval before publishing a book, which Cochran never did.
Cochran sued, employing The Alliance Defending Freedom Fund, a conservative Christian legal group based in Arizona that has waged legal battles throughout the country against same-sex marriage.
Now, three years later, the City has just agreed to pay him a $1.2 million settlement, saying the whole thing was getting too expensive to continue fighting.
“While the start of this litigation preceded our Administration, based upon findings of the Court that could have resulted in tax payers paying millions of dollars in damages and litigation fees, a negotiated settlement was recommended by legal counsel,” a spokesperson for Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said in a statement this week.
Related: Canned Homophobic Fire Chief Joins Christian Protestors To Rally Against The City Of Atlanta
The $1.2 million includes a payout to Cochran as well as his attorneys fees. Naturally, he and the Alliance Defending Freedom are giddy over the whole thing.
“We believe that the settlement sends a strong message throughout Atlanta and the rest of the country that the government cannot require its permission in advance for someone to speak about their faith on their own time,” Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel, David Cortman, said in statement. “The First Amendment provides the only permission necessary.”
Kangol
Too bad they had to pay him anything. If you’re a public servant and you cannot do your job without bias towards and equal treatment for any group or people you’re serving (who’re also paying your salary), you should not keep your job.
Billysees
Excellent comment…
Vince
If he was say a white supremacist preaching that blacks were inferio he would have been canned and that would have been the end of it.
He looks like a dick.
Kangol
He was canned. A white supremacist is in the President of the United States, for chrissakes! And gay people like you love him. What planet are you living on?
Kangol
Tons of white gay people support a lawless white supremacist named Donald Trump who not only isn’t being canned, but who continues to lie to us, break laws on a daily basis, support anti-gay politicians and politicians, and acts like a dictator. Atlanta canned this man, and it’s a shame the City of Atlanta, which is very gay friendly, could not afford to fight him and deny him a dime. We’re stuck with Trump, however, unless the Democrats impeach him or he’s indicted, whichever comes first, and he’ll still walk away with more money than this creep ever received.
Vince
That wasn’t my point. It’s the fact that he actually won the case where I was going. It’s still ok in in certain places to discriminate against gay people as this case made so obvious.
theafricanwiththemouth
A**hole. A despicable being like him will hopefully get bitten by karma…somehow, someday. I hate, LOATHE folks like this. People who don’t understand what it means to exist as a detested and hugely frowned upon minority. People who do everything in their power not to empathize with fellow human beings but instead condemn and condemn and condemn.
Because they’re born in a biased majority and use that to constantly bully us along with their “faith/religion”. Darn it, everything just hurts.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
Disgusting, vile abhorrent, noxious, sub human piece of crap…
It wasn’t too long ago that Blacks were lynched in this country and denied a seat on a bus. And this vile smcubag spews that vitriol towards another minority??
I pray Karma hits this smcubag hard and vicious that he suffers a horrific event prior to spending a dime of that money .
Vince
Not to mention as a public servant his employer had a responsibility and a right to ask him to stop and fire him when he wouldn’t stop. Obviously they found a bunch of like minded bigots on that jury.
Vince
The taxpayers are the only true victims here.
Heywood Jablowme
@Vince: “Obviously they found a bunch of like minded bigots on that jury.”
There was NO jury yet. The case hadn’t gotten that far along yet. That seems even more strange to me, the city agreeing to a settlement. A jury in Atlanta would have probably agreed with the city’s case, not his. But the city apparently decided it was less expensive this way.
Vince
@Heywood Jablowme. Then I just don’t get it. The city has their own attorney’s so they could easily fight some bigot and the hate group representing him. They folded like a cheap house of cards.
frankcar1965
I worked at the same place as he did once, he is the biggest azzhole there is, he had one of those disgusting smirking faces like the devil.
nitejonboy
Before being the Captain of Atlanta, he was the fire captain here in Shreveport, and he was an asshole then too…I can’t remember if we fired him or not.
frankcar1965
I think he got fired here too.
DCguy
This is why we need to get out and vote. That case should have been tossed out of court and he should have had to repay the district for their legal costs.
Terrycloth
He looks constipated in that picture…
Heywood Jablowme
Like Trump in every picture, lol.
Heywood Jablowme
“The city requires employees to first seek permission and obtain approval before publishing a book, which Cochran never did.”
That’s pretty clear-cut, no matter what the book was about!
boymikefl
Anti-gay judge. Everybody is partisan. Kavanaugh ring a bell? They probably plea bargained to split the money. Trump is setting us back 50 years.
PinkoOfTheGange
There was no judge, this was an out of court settlement. The GA EEOC already said stated the firing was riotous, but the City didn’t like its chances if they drew the wrong judge.
They cut their losses. Most Cities would farm this out to a private firm once it goes into the greater judicial system. So they would be paying every month, while the EX fire dude wouldn’t be on the hook for anything and his lawyers being paid by like (small) minded rich bigots’ tax deductible contributions.
The up side is there is no precedent being set.
Me2
The city knew that they weren’t going to win because last year a federal district court struck down the city’s policy that required government employees to receive permission before engaging in free speech outside of their jobs, which is the policy the city used to justify firing him. It was cited as violating the constitutional right to free speech. So, while the media has been distracted by Trump’s foul mouth and other things, his administration has been quietly filling the federal circuit courts with dozens of stauch conservatives. Get ready folks because more discrimination against gays and minorities will become legally permissible in the near and far future.
Vince
As a public servant you are a representative of the city. You do have freedom of speech. However there’s no such thing as freedom of speech without consequences. The religious riech wants it both ways.
Me2
Unfortunately, conservative judges may be the ones deciding what the consequences are.
Lacuevaman
isn’t he a bottom at dawgpound.com taking BB dicks? check it out!