A state court has denied a petition from a former Chattanooga police officer, who had appealed the City Council's decision to uphold his 2009 firing, according to court documents.
Kenneth Freeman's appeal to the Court of Appeals of Tennessee in Knoxville claimed that his termination was race-related since white officers had committed similar offenses as Freeman without punishment.
The court stated that "it would be impossible to look at one incident, as [Freeman] was trying to do with the other officers, and say he should not be fired because they weren't fired," the court stated.
The court also affirmed that the council's decision was "clearly supported by material evidence."
In December 2008, Freeman was given a 28-day suspension without pay for shoving a Walmart greeter in Collegedale.
In July 2009, a police internal affairs investigation revealed that Freeman consumed alcohol while armed, possessed an unauthorized off-duty firearm, billed for hours he did not work at a company where he had a part-time job, lied to investigators and worked an extra security job while on leave from the department, according to newspaper archives.
He was fired from the police department after the internal affairs investigation was completed.
In October 2009, the City Council unanimously upheld the firing.