Firefighters on discrimination gravy train
SANDY BANKS
As I drove past the Los Angeles Fire Department's Elysian Park training center Tuesday, a young man in firefighting duds was hanging a recruitment sign on the fence outside.
"Now Hiring," it read. "LA's Hottest Job." Down the block, another sign flapping in the wind seemed to plead: "Be a firefighter. Positions Now Open. Inquire within."
I envision a rush of applicants soon . . . though I don't know if they'll be signing up to fight fires or lining up for a spot on the "victim of discrimination" gravy train.
It seems like there's no end to the way firefighters can be discriminated against these days.
A pretty female firefighter who was kissed and hounded by her male boss got $320,000 to settle her harassment case.
A tough-talking, black lesbian won a $6.2-million jury verdict for being a victim of vile station-house pranks, including urine poured in her mouthwash bottle. Then, two white male firefighters who tried to protect her sued the department, claiming they were victims of retaliation. They walked away with more than $2 million between them.
A male captain reprimanded by the department when a female firefighter was injured during his training drill later wound up in court as a victim of unfair treatment. He said he was ordered by his bosses to go easy on female firefighters, and unfairly punished when he refused. A jury gave him $3.7 million.
Then, on Monday, two white fire captains who said they were made scapegoats in the infamous Tennie Pierce dog-food case won a $1.6-million racial discrimination verdict, bringing the price tag for that case to $4.5 million.
They were in charge of the Westchester station where Pierce -- called "Big Dawg" -- was tricked into eating dog food after his team won a volleyball game. A deputy chief recommended the captains be suspended -- 30 days without pay for one and 24 for the other -- but ordered the Latino firefighter who added the dog food to Pierce's spaghetti suspended for only six.
Now I'm waiting for the Latino guy to sue. Maybe he can claim discrimination, since every major player in this ugly saga walked off with a big payday except him.
No matter how you feel about firehouse pranks, female firefighters or race-based claims, this string of big-ticket payouts gives us all a through-the-looking-glass opportunity to see a management system in disarray.
