A convicted rapist fired in August from his job as a county hospital X-ray technologist was rehired by county managers through a contractor a short time later to do the same work at an East Los Angeles health clinic, officials acknowledged Wednesday.
Gariner Beasley, 48, was fired again Tuesday and escorted from the Edward R. Roybal Comprehensive Health Center, said county Supervisor Gloria Molina.
County officials struggled Wednesday to explain how they had rehired a man they fired in August, calling his criminal record incompatible with a job that required he work alone with patients in "very vulnerable and compromised positions."
"There will be some heads rolling on this one," said Molina, whose district includes the clinic where Beasley was working. "This is totally shocking. It really shocks all of your sensibilities because we are supposed to be serving and protecting the patients of Los Angeles County."
The fact that Beasley reappeared in county scrubs after county officials dismissed him raises even more questions about the county health department's vetting of hires and casts new doubt on the ability of the Board of Supervisors to reform the long-troubled Department of Health Services.
The Times reported Saturday that Beasley -- whose name became public when he appealed his initial termination -- was hired by county officials a decade ago despite disclosing his convictions for rape.
Beasley pleaded no contest to raping two women under color of authority while on duty and in uniform as an LAPD officer in the early 1990s. His actions cost the city of Los Angeles $290,000 in civil settlements for his victims.
Beasley's initial firing came a month after The Times first reported that an audit had found widespread criminal histories among workers at Martin Luther King Jr.- Harbor Hospital.
His second firing came just hours after details of his case were discussed at Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting.
What board members did not know at the time was that even as they met to publicly address his employment history, Beasley was at work at the East L.A. clinic, which provides primary and specialty services for 21,000 patients annually.
It was not until late Tuesday afternoon that Health Services Interim Director John Schunhoff learned that Beasley was still working for the county and ordered him fired again, Molina said.
