More than three months after Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed fired the manager of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and the two exchanged legal threats, they have dropped their dispute and withdrawn allegations of improper actions.
“The dispute is now over,” attorneys for the city and for ousted airport manager Miguel Southwell said in a joint statement Tuesday.
“They both now agree that neither of them engaged in any civil or criminal wrongdoing, and any statements that could have been interpreted to the contrary are disavowed,” the statement said. “Mr. Southwell has recognized that neither the Mayor nor any other city official engaged in any improper activity…. they both now believe that their differences were more a matter of style than substance.”
Southwell was fired in May and hired a law firm known for wrongful termination suits and whistleblower cases. The firm, Parks Chesin & Walbert, launched an investigation and sought documents from the city.
A letter from attorney Lee Parks to the city said Southwell was told his dismissal was due to long lines at the airport, but suggested the mayor's office wanted more control over airport contracts.
Reed called those allegations false, and in June told Channel 2 Action News, "I could have pressed charges against him if I had chosen to do so."
The mayor also said Southwell "is fortunate that I don't destroy his career."
One of Southwell’s attorneys, Matthew Maguire Jr. of Parks Chesin & Walbert, retorted at the time: “The truth is that Mayor Reed fired Mr. Southwell because he was unwilling to bend the knee to the Mayor’s “Friends and Family” contracting program.”
Monday’s statement said Reed and Southwell “have had an opportunity to exchange additional information with one another, including the reasons for the City’s decision to make a change in the management of the airport. In turn, Mr. Southwell voiced his concerns about the timing of the decision,” the statement says.
The mayor’s office said no payment was made to Southwell.
Roosevelt Council, the airport’s chief financial officer, has been interim general manager of the airport since Southwell’s termination.
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