One reply from his lawyer was all it took – and the leverage was gone before anyone signed
A fired Georgia city manager learned that a settlement can become binding the moment his lawyer typed five words into an email.
The Court of Appeals of Georgia ruled on May 21, 2026, that Deron King, the former City Manager of East Point, is bound by a settlement his lawyer accepted by email more than a year earlier, even though the parties never signed a formal agreement and later fell out over the wording of the release.
The decision is a cautionary tale for HR leaders and in-house employment counsel. A settlement negotiated by email can become binding the moment a lawyer signals acceptance, well before anyone signs anything.
Here's what happened. East Point's email system was hit by a cyber-attack in September 2021. The City Manager at the time decided not to inform the public. King was appointed City Manager in January 2022. In August 2023, Mayor Deana Holiday-Ingraham went public about the attack and said a private forensic auditing firm would investigate. Days later, Fox 5 News Atlanta reported that taxpayers were calling for King to resign or be terminated after the city purportedly disclosed an audit finding that more than $700,000 had been lost in an email scam and that King had known about it but had not told the council or taxpayers. King was terminated in December 2023.
He sued in August 2024, alleging breach of his employment contract, defamation per se, and a negligent failure to correct the public record about whether he bore any responsibility for the cyber-attack.
The two sides then negotiated by email. By March 2025, the city's offer was clear: one month's severance in lieu of notice, three months' severance per the contract, a cash payment for the 4% salary increase for 2023, cash in lieu of three months' benefits, attorney fees, and a public statement saying no wrongdoing by King or any other employee had been found in connection with the cyber-attack. After back-and-forth on the fee figure, the city proposed meeting in the middle at $8,000. King's counsel replied on March 26, 2025, saying the parties had a deal and listing the six terms.
That email settled it, the court held.
When the city sent a draft agreement on April 7, 2025, King's counsel returned a redlined version that added a mutual release and a release by the individual defendants. She also pushed for specifics on how the city would distribute the press statement, naming Facebook, the city's website, LinkedIn, Twitter and the major Atlanta TV networks.
The court was unmoved. It held that the manner and method of issuing the press release was not a material term of the deal. Neither was the form of the final written release. King's counsel's comments about where press releases would normally appear were treated as expressions of expectation rather than binding conditions.
The court grounded its analysis in Georgia contract law. A settlement is formed only when the minds of the parties meet at the same time, on the same subject matter, and in the same sense. Once the six core terms were accepted, later attempts to bolt on new conditions did not unwind the deal.
For HR teams and employment counsel, the practical signal is direct. A settlement can crystallise long before anyone signs anything. Every term that matters to the employer, including the scope of any release, who is released, and how a public statement is distributed, has to be locked in before counsel signals acceptance. After that point, the leverage is gone.
The case also underscores how exposed senior-executive separations can become when they collide with public communications. King's defamation claim flowed directly from how the cyber-attack and his role were described publicly. HR leaders running high-profile exits should pay attention.
The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court's July 25, 2025 order enforcing the settlement.
