Tennie Not Tony Got The Last Laugh
Huh! Tony, that's Mayor Tony, said hours after the L.A. City Council approved a mil and a hlf for dog canned black firefighter Tennie Pierce that the decision "reduces the original settlement by nearly half while protecting Angelenos from further liability." Nice try, Tony, but you're dead wrong on both counts.
The settlement when legal costs are dumped in actually cost the city more than the original settlement you vetoed. As for protecting city taxpayers from further liability--dream on. At last count there were more than a half dozen or more discrimination lawsuits against the fire department. Any or all of them could cost the city millions, and since there's not much evidence that you've aggressively rooted out the culture in the department that led to Pierce in the first place, chances are we'll be paying through the noose for years to settle or to lose those suits.
Sorry Tony but thanks to you, Tennie got the last laugh on you and us.
Boy , the lengths some people will go thru to get their names in print or video/camera !
You are wrong and so are Tony and Rocky. By tucking their tails between their legs and looking for an expedient, cheap, easy out, they have opened the flood gates. They have shown shown themselves to be easy marks and have established a precedent that will haunt the city for years.
Actually, the initial settlement would have required the city to pay for Pierce's legal fees, too, so at least that was avoided and made the point that if people are going to sue and play the race card, or sexual orientation or any false sue-the-city card, they are responsible for their own legal fees. In fact, he should have gotten nothing because the city's case was so strong, but Rocky is incompetent and told the Council he'd end up losing to maybe another $7 million anyway.
Earl, ever bother to see the photos of pierce laughing putting shaving cream on a guy's privates, or while another was wrapped in a sheet that said "gay" on it? He sure was participating and instigating, and that's why he agreed to settle despite the incomptence of Rocky.
As for the other lawsuits waiting in the wings, they include the two Hispanics who were demoted for allegedly engaging in Tennie's dog food incident, and are claiming wrongful demotion, with proof that he has done worse. So just making heads roll to make a PR point isn't so cool.
Yes, there is immature hazing and Barry has said it must stop, period. But why are you so anxious to put the city at more financial peril, by giving away to frivolous litigants money that is needed for firefighting equipment, new trucks and buildings, training and supervision?
Does being ultra-liberal have to mean no sense, fiscal responsibility or concern for the greater good at all? Does it always have to mean "Go stick it to the man," even when "the man" is "us?"
Personally, I'm hoping the "gay/jewish" and "yellow" fire fighters that Tennie Pierce pranked will sue him. I'll donate to pay their legal bills. I would love nothing mre han to see TP waste all of that $1.5 million on paying Genie Harrsion to defend him for doing exactly what he sued the City for.
That would be justice.
Firefighters have to file a complaint within a certain amount of time. So the guys Tennie pranked are out of "luck" (aka money).
An internal complaint, yes. But I wonder what the Statute of limitations is in court.
This paper is reporting today that Pierce actually got about a dollar net, because he had to pay his own attorney fees. The city lost, too, but it was still a disincentive to file a frivolous lawsuit.