On the eve of a lawsuit that could have revealed embarrassing details about hazing within the Los Angeles Fire Department, the City Council voted today to pay nearly $1.5 million to a black firefighter who was fed dog food by his colleagues.
A spokesman for City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo said the settlement pushed the total cost of the case to $2.8 million once the $1.3 million in legal fees accumulated by the city since December are factored in. That amount is about $100,000 more than a settlement offered by the council last year but vetoed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
Villaraigosa, who gave his blessing to the latest legal deal, vetoed a $2.7 million settlement last year to Tennie Pierce, a 19-year firefighter who lives in Cerritos. After that, the council hired a private legal team and prepared for trial. The case had been set to open Monday, but court officials recently rescheduled it to early next month, assuming it would still be necessary.
Council President Eric Garcetti, who brokered the deal between Pierce and the mayor, said he hoped it would allow Pierce and his family to "move on with the next chapter in their life."
You've got to look at the heroic photo of the plaintiff the Times chose to run with this story. It's pretty easy to see whose side they're on.
They conveniently waited until late Friday afternoon, and a major Jewish hoiday to boot, to announce the settlement. What morons, especially since it was proven long ago that this same firefighter had been involved in numerous hazing incidents of his own. If I were one of the firefighters he hazed, I'd be filing a suit on Monday.
The taxpayers were not well served...again.
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