Chief Cochran Sues Atlanta and Mayor Reed

Posted by: Curt Varone February 18, 2015 1 Comment

The expected lawsuit by former Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran against the city has been filed alleging wrongful termination, religious discrimination and violation of his First Amendment rights. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed fired Chief Cochran in January after he refused the mayor’s request to resign.

Chief Cochran was suspended for 30 days in November after concerns were raised about comments in his new book, “Who Told You That You Were Naked“, that condemned homosexuality and suggested women should be subservient to their man. In announcing his termination Mayor Reed insisted that religion did not play a role in his decision. However, the inescapable appearance is that Mayor Reed was worried about the impact of Chief Cochran’s religious views on the GLBT community.

The suit names both the city of Atlanta and Mayor Reed. Here is a copy of the complaint. CochranComplaint

I am lecturing this week in South Carolina and my time to study and analyze the complaint is just not there. Hopefully I will get to it over the weekend. In the mean time, here is a discussion about Chief Cochran’s situation that we had in the Fire Service Court a few weeks ago. The discussion starts several minutes in.

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More on the story.

About Curt Varone

Curt Varone has over 45 years of fire service experience and 35 as a practicing attorney licensed in both Rhode Island and Maine. His background includes 29 years as a career firefighter in Providence (retiring as a Deputy Assistant Chief), as well as volunteer and paid on call experience. He is the author of two books: Legal Considerations for Fire and Emergency Services, (2006, 2nd ed. 2011, 3rd ed. 2014, 4th ed. 2022) and Fire Officer's Legal Handbook (2007), and is a contributing editor for Firehouse Magazine writing the Fire Law column.
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