A lengthy legal battle stemming from the firing of former Atlanta fire chief Kevin Cochran who penned an inflamatory book that condemned homosexuality has ended with the city agreeing to pay the ousted employee $1.2 million.
The case drew national attention and led to a two-and-a-half-year highly publicized legal battle between Cochran, who authored the 162-page book that compared homosexuality with bestiality, and the city, which fired him in January of 2015. The city concluded that a federal court ruling in the case from December left taxpayers exposed to an even larger payout if they didn’t settle with Cochran. The city will be paying at least some to his lawyers, which include a legal group out of Arizona that has advocated for anti-gay policies.