Former Gibson police chief sues city, mayor
GIBSON COUNTY, Tenn. — Former Gibson Police Chief Taylor Atkins has filed a lawsuit against the city of Gibson, Mayor Tony Black and six of the city’s aldermen for alleged violations of his First Amendment rights involving a Facebook post and retaliation that led to the loss of his job.
Taylor Atkins
The board of aldermen voted Dec. 21 to remove Atkins from his position as police chief. “They’ve all been sued because of their participation in the decision to terminate his employment,” Atkins’ attorney, Mike Weinman, said.
In the lawsuit filed Tuesday, Atkins alleges that his termination was the result of retaliation for refusing to remove a post from Facebook which he had posted Nov. 11.
The post involved a story from WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News about two inmates who had escaped from the jail, according to court documents. Atkins included the text “why is this happening, this didn’t used to happen?” according to the documents.
The suit points out that Atkins used to work for the previous Gibson County sheriff who was in office before the current sheriff, Paul Thomas.
Atkins alleges he was contacted that night by the mayor and urged to remove the post but refused. The documents say Sheriff Thomas had contacted the mayor and told him he wanted the post removed. Weinman said Atkins cited his First Amendment rights as a reason for not removing the post. “Within a month, he was fired from his position,” Weinman said.
The suit alleges Atkins was voted out by the board of aldermen as a result of retaliation for his refusal to remove the post. Legally, Weinman said posting about public issues is a protected freedom of speech. “So any post you make that would concern a matter of public interest on a Facebook posting, the government could not take action against you,” he said.
The lawsuit names aldermen Charles Summer, Billy Loflin, Danny Gant, Josh Meales, Clyde Frye and Chris Houck.
The documents say Atkins seeks compensatory and punitive damages but do not list a specific amount of money.
WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News spoke with Gibson city Mayor Tony Black. He said due to the fact he’s recovering from a recent medical procedure and taking medication he did not want us to use any comments from him.
