Harassment

Is the public library no longer a haven for children? That's the message the director of a charter school in South Los Angeles sent the parents of her 340 students last week, warning them that Hyde Park--Miriam Matthews Public Library, a few yards from the school campus, was not safe for their children.

A 25-year veteran of the Newport Beach Police Department is suing the city and his superiors, saying he has been turned down for promotions and deprived of awards because of his long history of reporting misconduct by fellow officers and because they think he is gay. Sgt. Neil Harvey said he had been labeled a troublemaker for initiating investigations against colleagues throughout his career.

Actor Tom Sizemore settled a lawsuit brought against him by his ex-girlfriend, former "Hollywood Madam" Heidi Fleiss, according to court papers obtained Monday. Attorneys for the parties told West Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Joseph S. Biderman on Friday that resolution had been reached in the case. Sizemore's attorney, Jeffrey P. Magwood, declined to comment on the settlements, and the terms were not contained within the court file.

Four minority South Gate police officers who claimed they were harassed on the job because of their ties to two controversial and eventually ousted Latino city officials won a $10.4-million jury award Thursday. The award is believed to be one of the largest ever in a police employment discrimination case and represents another setback for the controversy-plagued, working-class community in southeastern Los Angeles County.

A Superior Court judge ruled Monday that L.A. firefighter Tennie Pierce can include a retaliation claim as part of his racial harassment lawsuit against the city. Pierce, who is black, alleges that he was fed dog food by colleagues at a Westchester fire station and that, subsequently, he was retaliated against for complaining. Monday's ruling, however, mentions nothing about the merits of the claim.

A Wyoming rancher cannot use the federal racketeering law to seek damages against employees of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management whom he accused of harassment, the Supreme Court ruled Monday . The unanimous decision reversed a federal appeals court ruling. The earlier ruling had government officials fearing that if the high court permitted the case to proceed, it would spawn a bevy of litigation against federal employees merely trying to do their jobs.

Federal officials have launched an investigation into allegations that racism and discrimination have been allowed to flourish within the Los Angeles Fire Department. In a statement released Friday afternoon, the office of interim Fire Chief Douglas L. Barry confirmed the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission inquiry and said the department was fully cooperating. "The Los Angeles Fire Department takes all workplace environment issues seriously," the statement said.

A racial harassment lawsuit brought by firefighter Tennie Pierce was headed for a Sept. 24 trial Tuesday after a judge denied a city request to throw out the case. Pierce alleges his dinner was laced with dog food as part of a racial prank at a Westchester firehouse in 2004. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa vetoed a $2.7-million settlement last year after photos suggested that Pierce had participated in some pranks.

The Los Angeles City Council voted Friday to provide $8 million to a developer who is rehabilitating a 12-story residential hotel near skid row, infuriating homeless advocates who charge the developer is waging an illegal campaign to drive impoverished tenants out of another building nearby.

Patna, India The beatings stopped only after she fled the house. For four years after she married a local shopkeeper, Rubi Devi's in-laws constantly bullied her for not bringing a bigger dowry, then tortured her when she failed to pony up more gold, more cash, more goods. "My mother-in-law and sister-in-law would beat me up. They would grab me by the hair and drag me around.