DERON KING v. CITY OF EAST POINT

── DERON KING v. CITY OF EAST POINT ── Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia Date: May 21, 2026 Category: General FIRST DIVISION BARNES, P. J., MARKLE and HODGES, JJ. NOTICE: Motions for reconsideration must be physically received in our clerk’s office within ten days of the date of decision to be deemed timely filed. https://www.gaappeals.us/rules May 21, 2026 In the Court of Appeals of Georgia A26A0836. KING v. CITY OF EAST POINT et al. HODGES, Judge. This case arises out of the termination of an employee following the publication of statements regarding his alleged involvement in a cyber-attack on the City of East Point’s email system. Deron King, the employee, sued the City of East Point, Mayor Deana Holiday-Ingraham, as an individual and in her official capacity, City Councilmember and Mayor Pro Tem Karen Rene, as an individual and in her official capacity, and seven fictitious defendants as unidentified councilmembers (collectively “the defendants”). The defendants filed a motion in the trial court to enforce a settlement agreement reached by the parties, and the trial court granted the defendants’ motion. King appeals from that order. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the trial court’s decision. This Court conducts a de novo review of the trial court’s order on a motion to enforce a settlement agreement. DeRossett Enters. v. Gen. Elec. Cap. Corp., 275 Ga. App. 728 (621 SE2d 755) (2005). In doing so, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Id. So viewed, the record shows that in September 2021, the City of East Point experienced a cyber-attack on its email system. The City Manager at the time indicated that the IT Department was investigating the cyber-attack, but chose not to inform the public about it. Thereafter, in January 2022, King was appointed as the City Manager. On August 8, 2023, Holiday-Ingraham informed the public about the 2021 cyber-attack and indicated that a private forensic auditing firm would be hired to investigate. On August 21, 2023, Fox 5 News Atlanta published an article stating that taxpayers were calling for King to resign or be terminated after the City purportedly disclosed that the “audit revealed the [C]ity lost more than $700,000 in an email scam, and ... King knew about it, but didn’t tell the council or taxpayers.” In December 2023, King was terminated by the City. 2  The month after his termination, King made an initial demand for settlement to the City for its failure to comply with the terms of his employment contract. After several failed exchanges to negotiate a settlement, King served an ante litem notice on the City, and on August 15, 2024, King sued the defendants. In his complaint, King asserted that the defendants failed to comply with the terms of his employment contract, committed defamation per se, and negligently failed to “set the record straight” regarding the “false inference that [he] bore some responsibility or engaged in some dereliction of duty regarding the 2021 cyber-attack[.]” On September 12, 2024, the defendants’ counsel reached out to King’s counsel to introduce themselves. The defendants’ counsel subsequently emailed King’s counsel on October 7, 2024, stating that they “spoke[] to the City Attorney regarding [the] prior settlement discussions, and [they] would like to discuss the same.” On October 9, 2024, counsel for both parties spoke on the phone and corresponded regarding the time it would take to get the City’s board to meet and finalize a press statement. On October 18, 2024, King’s counsel emailed the defendants’ counsel requesting particular language for the press release and reimbursement of attorney fees. The defendants’ counsel responded on October 22, 2024, indicating that the