ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — The chief of the St. Petersburg Fire and Rescue Department returned to work, Thursday.

Mayor Ken Welch placed Chief James Large on administrative leave in early August following an anonymous survey of employees with the City of St. Petersburg. According to Welch, some responses accused Large of disdain for the LGBTQ+ community and lack of diversity in the department.

Wednesday, the mayor released a video announcing the chief was reinstated.

“No one had first-hand knowledge, or evidence of racial, homophobic or sexist comments from the chief,” the mayor said.

“We cooperated with the investigation. This has not been a litigious at all, this has been about setting the record straight, moving forward and getting the city back on track,” said Jay Hebert, Large’s attorney.

Large was greeted by cheers of support from members of the department when he arrived Thursday morning shortly before 8 a.m. Hebert said the chief’s first order of business is creating a “diversity, inclusion and equity” committee within the department.

According to Welch, “Chief Large and fire department leadership will work closely with our incoming chief equity officer, the St. Petersburg NAACP and other community partners to develop and implement a fire department action plan for inclusive progress to support the strategic priority.”

Hebert said Large plans to continue serving as chief at least through 2024, his 50th anniversary with the department.