A jury will begin deliberating this morning in a lawsuit filed over allegations that the Chattanooga Police Department pushed out its two top deputies because they were too old.
The city of Chattanooga defended itself Wednesday, presenting seven witnesses who characterized plaintiffs T.E. “Skip” Vaughn and Charles Cooke as veteran employees who had become bitter and difficult to work with.
The testimony came even though Mayor Ron Littlefield and Police Chief Freeman Cooper told jurors last week the decision to cut Mr. Vaughn’s and Mr. Cooke’s jobs was made for budgetary reasons.
“Their attitudes were detrimental to the functions of the police department,” current Deputy Police Chief Mark Rawlston testified Wednesday. “It tends to grow like a disease.”
Other witnesses used terms like “personality conflicts,” “resentment,” standoffish” and “condescending” to describe the two former deputy police chiefs.