The Georgia Supreme Court upheld the firing of former Fulton County finance director and interim County Manager Patrick O'Connor, who was sacked in 2015 after he was recorded criticizing county leaders and refused to resign.

O'Connor was the county's chief financial officer and finance director from 1996 until late 2014, when he was appointed interim county manager. The County Commission appointed former AT&T executive Richard Anderson to the post in February 2015 and offered O'Connor an opportunity to resign as finance director or be fired. He chose the latter.

Later that year, O'Connor sued the county and Anderson for breach of contract, seeking reappointment to the position of finance director plus attorney fees. According to the suit he filed in Fulton County Superior Court, O'Connor was fired after a recording of his comments at a community meeting surfaced in which he expressed “frustration with the [Board of Commissioners]' lack of leadership and the county's lack of resources.”