A lawsuit filed in 2017 by six minority fire prevention inspectors with the Los Angeles City Fire Department has been settled for $3 million. The inspectors claim they were subjected to harassment, discrimination and retaliation.
The plaintiff-inspectors, Battalion Chief Jerome Boyd, Captain Gary Carpenter, Captain Andre Johnson, Captain David Riles, Inspector Aaron Walker and Inspector Glenn Martinez, contend they refused to go along with efforts to resolve a long-standing back-log of overdue fire inspections because it would involve lowering standards. As a result, they claim to have suffered retaliation.
The complaint identified Chief Boyd, Captain Carpenter, Captain Johnson, David Riles, and Inspector Walker as African American and Inspector Martinez as Hispanic. Among the allegations made in the complaint by the firefighters was: “The LAFD is essentially an all-white boys club and anyone who fails to align themselves with this mentality is looked down upon and treated differently.”
Here is more on the original filing, including a copy of the complaint.
The Los Angeles City Council voted yesterday to settle the lawsuit. More on the story.