ATLANTA — The former Atlanta fire chief appeared in court Wednesday over filing a lawsuit about his firing.
Kelvin Cochran claims that Mayor Kasim Reed fired him because of his religious beliefs in a book he wrote that included critical comments about homosexuality.
The city’s attorney wants Cochran's suit dismissed because they say he didn't get permission from the city's ethics officer to write the book, which is required to do, and he passed the book out to people who worked for him.
"One of the most alarming things is that we did not know about the book when it was published," city spokeswoman Anne Torres said.
The 2013 book, "Who Told You That You Are Naked?" was criticized because city leaders said the book described homosexuality as a "perversion" akin to bestiality and pederasty.
Religious groups rallied around Cochran, a church deacon at Elizabeth Baptist Church, decried his punishment as an impingement on religious freedom.
Atlanta’s chief counsel told the judge that Cochran can believe what he wants to, but because he was a city official, he can’t bring it into the workplace.
“The mayor has to expect from those on his cabinet that they are committed to the city’s policy of non-discrimination and if they hold contrary beliefs, that they simply not take that oath,” chief counsel Robert Godfrey said.
Cochran and his attorney said he never discriminated against any of the people who worked for him, and that it is Reed who discriminates.
“What the mayor has said of Chief Cochran is not inclusive. He discriminates against people. He has said things like, ‘He will never work in this city again,” Cochran’s attorney Kevin Theriot said.
The judge said she will make a ruling on whether to dismiss Cochran’s lawsuit within 30 days.
WSBTV
