Kelvin J. Cochran

Kelvin J. Cochran (born January 23, 1960) is an author, public speaker, former Administrator of the United States Fire Administration, and former Fire Chief of Atlanta Fire Department. He was fired from the Atlanta fire department after he wrote a book for members of his church expressing biblical views on sexuality, adultery, and homosexuality.

Cochran was first hired by Shreveport Fire Department in 1981 serving as a trainer and assistant fire chief. Mayor Keith Hightower later appointed him the first African-American fire chief of Shreveport, Louisiana August 26, 1999. He helped the New Orleans Fire Department in 2005 in response to Hurricane Katrina and went on to serve positions in the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) from 2006 to 2007.

He worked under mayor Kasim Reed starting January 2, 2008 for Atlanta Fire Department, prior to being appointed US Fire Administrator in July 2009 by President Barack Obama where he worked extensively with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the United States Department of Homeland Security to prevent fires and improve fire response. He maintained this role until returning to Atlanta on May 8, 2010 and being re-appointed as Fire Chief of Atlanta Fire Department August 16, 2010.

Cochran was suspended for 30 days without pay starting November 24, 2014 for distributing to employees a book he had written, Who Told You That You Were Naked?, which expressed Cochran's religious views which included calling homosexuality and lesbianism a perversion and which mayor Kasim Reed considered to be discriminatory against LGBT people. On January 6, 2015, after returning from the suspension, he was informed that he would have to resign or be terminated.

On February 18, 2015, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of Cochran by the public interest law organization Alliance Defending Freedom on grounds of "religious discrimination" against the City of Atlanta. The case, Cochran v. City of Atlanta, was brought in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division. A petition on March 25 for the case to be dismissed was denied. On October 14, May said she would soon issue her ruling. On December 16, 2015, Judge May ruled that the lawsuit could proceed.

On December 20, 2017, United States District Court Judge Leigh Martin May upheld his firing and also ruled that as an "at-will" employee, his firing was legal. However, the judge noted that "rules cited in Cochran’s dismissal that require city employees to get pre-clearance for outside employment could stifle speech unconstitutionally and also failed to define the standards to be used when judging a potential conflict of interest." Furthermore, the City "conducted an extensive review of the facts and the law and concluded that the cost of continuing to defend against the lawsuit would far exceed the cost to settle. The $1.2 million includes a settlement and attorneys’ fees."