Tennessee Chief Alleges Termination was Retaliation

A Tennessee fire chief who was terminated earlier this year, has filed suit alleging he was retaliated against for reporting a former employee who self-deployed to a reported school shooting with an AR-15. Former Columbia Fire Chief Ty Cobb filed suit in US District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee naming the city of Columbia and City Manager Tony Massey as defendants.

The suit alleges a violation of Chief Cobb’s First Amendment Rights, a violation of Tennessee Whistleblower Statute, and retaliatory discharge. He was terminated on March 12, 2024 purportedly for insubordination. Quoting from the complaint:

• On May 3, 2023, there was a report of an active school shooter at Columbia Central High School indicating that students had been shot.
• At that time, in May of 2023, Roy Brooks, who previously worked for both the Fire Department and the Police Department, was a civilian.
• After hearing about the school shooter via a 9-1-1 Dispatch Report, Mr. Cobb went to the school to help. As Mr. Cobb was arriving at the scene, the Chief of Police called Mr. Cobb and informed him that he was not needed because the call was a hoax.
• While Mr. Cobb did not see Mr. Brooks at the school, the Deputy Fire Chief, Nick Brown, called Mr. Cobb because he saw Mr. Brooks, a civilian, carrying an AR-15 on school property alongside of the SWAT team.
• Mr. Brooks had previously been terminated by the Fire Department and had a civil service hearing in August of 2022.
• While on school property, upon information and belief, Mr. Brooks pointed his AR-15 at an individual.
• Based on Mr. Brooks being a civilian, coupled with information Mr. Cobb learned about Mr. Brooks during his civil service hearing and while working with Mr. Brooks, Mr. Cobb was extremely concerned that Mr. Brooks was in possession of an AR-15 on school property and that he had randomly joined up with the SWAT team despite not being a member of the team.
• Mr. Brooks’ actions of carrying a weapon on school property was against the law.
• On May 3, 2023, Mr. Cobb contacted the Chief of Police, Jeremy Alsup, and informed him that he believed Roy Brooks was on the scene with an AR-15.
• The Chief of Police told Mr. Cobb that there was no way Roy Brooks was at the scene and claimed that it must have been “someone else” who looked like Mr. Brooks.
• Mr. Cobb also informed the City Manager, Tony Massey, about Mr. Brooks being on the scene with an AR-15. Mr. Massey stated to Mr. Cobb that maybe Mr. Brooks was at the scene with another agency.
• The Deputy Fire Chief was insistent that it was Mr. Brooks at the scene and continued to express his concerns to Mr. Cobb.
• Upon further investigation in his official capacity as the Fire Chief and as a member of the City’s 9-1-1 Board, Mr. Cobb later received a video that confirmed his belief: Mr. Brooks, a civilian, had, in fact, joined in with the SWAT team without being a member of the team and was carrying an AR-15.
• On or about May 10, 2023, Mr. Cobb took pictures he had received of Mr. Brooks at the scene to the City Manager and the HR Director and requested an investigation.
• Some firefighters complained to Mr. Cobb that they were being harassed by Roy Brooks.
• The Fire Chief informed all employees to report harassment to the City Manager and/or the Human Resource Department. He also reported the harassment to the City Manager and Human Resource Department.
• Defendants took no action regarding the reports of harassment and the harassment continued.
• During this time, the City Manager’s wife, Connie Massey, went to city employees asking if they believed Mr. Cobb was “acting crazy” or if he was “having marital problems.”
• Mr. Brooks was eventually indicted by a grand jury on a charge of carrying a weapon on school property, which is a criminal offense against public health, safety and welfare.
• However, the charges were ultimately (inexplicably) dropped on the eve of his trial.
• In response to Mr. Cobb’s complaints and showing the video to members of the City Council during the Executive Session, the City Manager told Mr. Cobb that he could not ignore what happened and suspended him without pay from October 30, 2023, until November 27, 2023.
• The City Manager also placed Mr. Cobb on probation from November 27, 2023, until November 27, 2024.
• The reason given for both Mr. Cobbs suspension and probation was “insubordination.”
• Mr. Cobb had not been insubordinate and Defendants never provided any reason as to why or how Mr. Cobb was allegedly insubordinate.
• The City of Columbia has a progressive discipline policy that requires the City to provide written notice to an employee that contains specific times, places and other pertinent facts concerning charges prior to a final decision being rendered as to suspension.
• Defendants did not follow their own disciplinary policy and procedures.
• On March 12, 2024, on behalf of the City of Columbia, the City Manager, Tony Massey, terminated Plaintiff.
• The termination was for alleged “unacceptable activities” that occurred while Mr. Cobb was on his one-year probation.
• After the City Manager terminated Mr. Cobb, the City Manager told employees why Mr. Cobb was terminated and indicated to the employees that Mr. Cobb was having an inappropriate sexual relationship.
• Any suggestion that Mr. Cobb was having an inappropriate sexual relationship was defamatory and completely untrue.
• The City Manager and his wife continued to publicly defame Mr. Cobb.

Here is a copy of the complaint: