Fired Atlanta Fire Chief Sues Mayor and City

Today former Atlanta Fire Chief Kevin Cochran filed a federal court lawsuit against Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and the City of Atlanta  claiming that Reed's firing of Cochran last month violated Cochran's 1st and 14th Amendment rights. (See prior related posting.)  The 54-page complaint (full text) in Cochran v. City of Atlanta, Georgia, (ND GA, filed 2/18/2015) contends that

[Reed] terminated Cochran for holding historical Christian beliefs about marriage and sexuality and making those views known in a self-published, non-work-related, religious book.

As reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Cochran's book, titled Who Told You That You Were Naked?: Overcoming the Stronghold of Condemnation, includes passages that describe homosexuality as a "sexual perversion" akin to bestiality. Cochran gave copies of his book to a number of city officials and employees. The suit seeks reinstatement, damages and an end to city policy that requires pre-clearance before employees publish a work.  ADF issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit.