U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk and several other Republican members of the Georgia delegation have sent a letter to Mayor Kasim Reed claiming the mayor violated “fundamental principles of free speech and religious freedom” when he terminated former fire chief Kelvin Cochran in early January. According to the AJC, Loudermilk wrote in the letter that by terminating Cochran, “Atlanta itself engaged in an act of discrimination.” Reed fired Cochran after the chief self-published a religious book that contained remarks comparing homosexuality to bestiality and calling it a “sexual perversion.”
Mayor Kasim Reed will sign into law legislation to ensure all women employees of the city receive equal pay for equal work after the Atlanta City Council passed the proposed legislation unanimously during its meeting on Feb. 17. Reed supports the Obama Administration’s work to close the loopholes in the Equal Pay Act and the President’s 2009 Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which gives back to employees their day in court to challenge a pay gap.
A lawsuit demanding Atlanta Police to comply with laws protecting the public’s right to document arrests has been filed by two Atlanta attorneys and the Southern Center for Human Rights. The lawsuit says the APD is in civil contempt after arresting two journalists during last fall’s Ferguson protests in Downtown Atlanta. Read more on this story at Creative Loafing.
