Whoops! Nashville To Pay $1.8 Million To Demoted Firefighter After Rejecting $105,000 Settlement

A former Nashville firefighter demoted over his social media posts about Black Lives Matter has gotten a big payout in his civil rights lawsuit against the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County and they could have saved a boatload of cash had they accepted a previous settlement.

Back in 2020 (remember what a goofy year that was?), Tracy Turner — then a captain with the Nashville Fire Department  — took to his personal Facebook account to voice his frustrations with the BLM protests that were raging across the country at the time.

"These protesters are the stupidest people on the planet, other than the arsonist and looters that hang out with them," Turner said in one post, per Axios.

"I am not or ever have been a Slave Owner or a Bad Cop. Me or anyone else I know have never even spoke to the White Privilege office. (If you have their number please share) So quit looting and trying to burn down my city. If I offend you or you offend me, get over it," he wrote in another.

Well, those posts led to Turner getting a big fat demotion.

Firefighter silhouetted against a fire truck with flashing lights at an emergency scene. (Getty Images)

And if your First Amendment sense started tingling, join the club because Turner filed a lawsuit that the Metro Legal Department tried to settle for $105,000 last year. However, the Metro Council needed to approve that settlement and voted 31-0 (with three abstentions), per WSMV, to reject it.

If the goal was to save some money, that vote could go down as an all-time blunder because less than a year later Turner's attorney announced that the former firefighter had been awarded $1,775,513 in damages.

I'm no math guy, but even I know that that's more than 10 times what the original settlement that the Metro Council rejected was worth.

Well, Tracy shouldn't have been retaliated against for voicing his opinions in the first place.

And, whenever those Metro Council elections roll around next time, it would be a real shame if the incumbents' opponents bring this little uh-oh up on the campaign trail.