Former officer sues, says firing was racial

A former police officer filed a discrimination lawsuit against Chamblee, Ga., claiming he was fired — not because he violated the city’s bodycam policy — but because of his race.

Johnathan A. Azar, a white man, filed the legal complaint last Friday in DeKalb County Superior Court. Azar claims he was fired by Chamblee police Chief Kerry Thomas,

who is Black, over a procedural violation, while other Black officers have

received more lenient discipline for similar or more egregious violations.

The 19-page complaint said the city “purposefully and disparately disciplined and terminated [Azar’s] employment on the basis of race in

keeping with a city policy, practice or custom

that treats Black employees more favorably than white employees.”

Chamblee declined to comment about pending litigation, and Azar’s attorney, Jeanne Bynum Hipes, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Azar, an Army and Air Force veteran, began his law enforcement career in 2000. He worked for several metro Atlanta agencies, including Atlanta police, the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office, Roswell police and Union City Police.

According to Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training records, Azar resigned in lieu of termination from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, where he had worked as a jailer for about six months, in

2005. No further information on the incident was provided, and the sheriff’s office told

The Atlanta JournalConstitution more detail on the resignation would be available next week.

Afterward, Azar worked for East Point police for about seven years and Kennesaw State University police for about a year and half before being hired by Chamblee police in 2017, POST records show.