Ousted Atlanta Fire Chief in Court Wednesday

The former chief of the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department was in a courtroom on Wednesday pressing his lawsuit against the City of Atlanta which alleges he was fired because of his religion.

Kelvin Cochran’s lawsuit, filed in federal court, names the City of Atlanta and Mayor Kasim Reed as defendants and argues that Kelvin Cochran’s employment was terminated because of the content of the book “Who Told You That You Are Naked?,” WSB-TV reports. The book, written by Cochran, promoted Christian ideals in the fire department and allegedly declared homosexuality a perversion.

In late November 2014, Cochran was suspended without pay when city leaders discovered he had published and distributed the book to members of the department without the permission or consent of the city.

On Jan. 6, Mayor Kasim Reed announced the city and Cochran had decided to “separate,” but said the termination was due to the former chief’s lack of permission to write the book in the first place. Reed explicitly stated during a press conference that the decision to fire Cochran was not based on the content of the book nor his religious beliefs.

Members of the religious community have rallied to Cochran’s cause and want to see Reed rescind the termination and personally apologize to Cochran. Elizabeth Baptist Church pastor Dr. Craig L. Oliver said that Cochran’s firing should concern Christians nationwide, and added that an organization should not be able to muzzle one of its employees for expressing his or her religious views.

According to WSB-TV, which acquired a copy of the city’s internal investigation into the matter, Cochran admitted giving copies of ”Who Told You You Are Naked?” to three people who did not ask for a copy, despite Cochran’s earlier public statements which claimed he only gave the book to some of his command staff.