Atlanta’s City Council has voted to pay $1.2 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the city’s former fire chief who was dismissed after he wrote a book that included anti-gay passages.
The City Council voted 11-3 Monday to approve the settlement. The litigation preceded the administration of Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, but a city spokesman said in an email Tuesday that the city’s legal counsel recommended a settlement to avoid paying millions of taxpayer dollars in damages and legal fees.
Former fire chief Kelvin Cochran sued the city and then-Mayor Kasim Reed over his January 2015 dismissal, saying he was fired because of his religious beliefs.
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