It sucks!
The tax payer gets stuck with the bill, because FD officials failed to stop all forms of hazing a long time ago.

That's terrible... can't a guy take a joke? I've eaten much worse than dog food while I was being initiated into various clubs, jobs, groups.
It's just another example of people taking advantage of the system and black the "Race Card" to get something for themselves.

That's terrible... can't a guy take a joke? I've eaten much worse than dog food while I was being initiated into various clubs, jobs, groups.
It's just another example of people taking advantage of the system and black the "Race Card" to get something for themselves.

Make the fireman and police self insure thru their unions. This bad behaviour will stop as their premiums rise!

This is ridiculous. We all know Pierce engaged in hazing himself. This is blatant "milking" of the system. Blatant playing of the "race card" in a situation where Pierce was treated the same/and treated others the same way as he was treated. Over $1 million of our funds plus a cushy retirement. Was this just a ploy for an early well-funded pension? Won't be the first time.

Rocky's office told the City Council last week that if they had to litigate, their costs could rise to $7 million or more, like with the lesbian firefighter. The problem is that Rocky's office couldn't win a small claims suit, has no confidence in itself, and as it is, the city's legal expenses of over a million are due to retaining outside counsel.

In fairness, that counsel also felt it would likely lose because a jury trial downtown would be largely ethnic, black especially, and jurors would vote their race like in the expensive and embarrassing O J trial.

Something is seriously wrong here. The legal system has to be changed.
As a start, why couldn't the trial be moved to say, Thousand Oaks or Simi? If the city is signaling it can't win a trial no matter how frivolous, what's to stop more such lawsuits?

There is an underlying problem of hazing and frat- boy immature behavior, which new Chief Barry sounds like he has a handle on with a firm zero-tolerance policy. But the Pierce case was not racial.

Maybe it went over the top, but any kid in an innercity school probably faces worse every day for being the wrong color or race. This is a firefighter who chose that career and was supposed to be tough. The city owes employees a fair shake but they should keep in mind that their payouts are hurting the LAFD and a city that is on the edge. One more lawsuit, and we'll have to cut out upgrades on firehouses, equipment and new recruits.

The poster who says have the LAFD create an internal fund for payouts has a good point: if litigants had to face the anger of their colleagues, instead of some anonymous citizens, they'd think harder about fraud.

As individuals take advantage of the system, their group suffers as a whole as likely they would be stigmatized as prone to racial lawsuits. Very sad for real victims of racism.

It's time for a new Mayor -- one who actually passed the bar.

WalterMooreForMayor.com

The entire city council should resign, effective immediately. They're a disgrace.

The public made it very clear that no such settlement should take place, even if the court case would end up costing more.

But this council and the mayor, afraid of a "downtown jury" (racist council code word for "black and latino"), happily spent our tax money and rewarded bad behavior. Are our elected officials saying that minority citizens can't see fraud when its laid right in front of them? SHAME ON THEM.

Hold on to your wallets. They'll be lining up.

Funny he gets all that $$$ YET he himself did same thing to others--its the gutless city council who are afraid of the race card being played........The gutless council outta be made to have full council to vote on anything and when there have to vote not abstain and all voting should be public not secret...Again its SCREW the American people..

Not only is Rocky a crook (remember he tried to stick the taxpayer with paying for his wife's illegally using a city car and damaging it in a hit and run accident and Rocky driving without auto insurance) he is incompetent. He wanted to settle the case for $2.7 million, then after he bungled that, in order for the city to settle it for $1.5 million, new, outside lawyers had to ring up $1.35 million in fees. Did the Rocky do anything at all to protect the city before he wanted to give away $2.7 million?

Absolutely ridiculous.. This man is milking the system, the taxpayer.
This man participated in hazing himself, on a jewish and chinese firefighter.
Every fireman that had been hazed by this man should file a class action suit against Pierce to gain some of the monies that Pierce himself has garnered...
This money giveaway has to stop.
Do you realize how many years a taxpayer on a medium income has to work to gain $1.5 Mil ??

What a horribly sad day for Los Angeles taxpayers. This system of corruption in which union and non-union dirtbag city employees seek early retirements with trumped up and bogus shakedown lawsuits from a City Council that depends on these very employees and unions for their council positions and thus dole out millions and millions in taxpayer dollar settlements to these dirtbags is disgusting. Angelenos MUST stop approving tax increases. The City government obviously has far more of our money than they need.

As for the dirtbag city employees, like this Tennie Pierce ... the Big Dawg ... who have bastardized the system -- may you rot in hell because of your greed.

Black peopole have a reputation of suing over anything they think will give them free money. It is the reason many smaller firms are afraid the hire black people. My company just won a $6,000.00 law suit by a former Black employee over who sued over nonsense. But it did cost us time and money to defend even though he lost. Everyone is afraid to say the truth. Every time a Black person makes a frivolous charge in court they hurt others of their own race whether they win or lose.

Little fact that won't please all the John and Ken sheep out there:

Of the 2 juries on the Lee and Bressler cases (the other 2 LAFD cases just lost by the City), only 1 of the 24 jurors was black. So there's your "Downtown Jury." Hate to burst your bubble, gang.

Maybe you guys can channel all that not-so-latent racism towards the Jena 6!

Hey Someone Without A Brain, can you tear away from Freedom Radio long enough to figure out that most "downtown juries" are hand-selected morons? See, they're mainly comprised of bottom feeding goverment bureaucrats who have the time to serve on them. They don't mind handing out these ridiculous settlements to their union "brothers and sisters."

Keep it coming, "Truth." This is healing. I'm sensing some serious trust issues. Want a hug?

Thank God I am no longer a resident of Los Angeles City and County. What I don't get is why a settlement was reached since it was discovered that he participated in a similar prank after or before this was done to him. Seems to me he's taking advantage of the system and the race card.

May a curse be put on the mayor and all city officials. They will eventually be judged by a supreme source.

If that firefighter had been a white male he would have been told to "cowboy up" and sent back to work. Need I say more???

SWAB: Trust issues? Darn right! How many times should we be burned by the pandering politicos and their bureaucrat supporters before we wake up and understand we're being shafted? I figured this out a long time ago.

Hey, Someone with a brain: I guess the fact that O J was acquitted had nothing to do with the fact that the jury was split along racial lines, with all the blacks sure he was being framed by "the man?" Sure that the glove was too small, just because he pretended he couldn't put it on? Sure, there must be a lot smarter blacks out there, we know there are, but they're not the ones who get put on these juries. Poster is right, defense jerrypicks the ones who don't have the most wattage, are subject to their emotions, pro-"worker" and against "the man," all of that.

If Rocky lost despite having only one black juror just shows how jerrypicked the rest were. Also, they might have felt there was some basis for the suit, but to come up with that kind of judgment, requires a lack of understanding of priorities. Plain stupid.

By the way, I hear two Council Members did vote against, and Greig Smith, who said the case should go to trial, wasn't even there. But again, the Council acted on the advice of Rocky, who told them last week that they are looking at another $7 million loss if he has to go to trial. KNBC reports that this settlement is still better than the first one, which would have required the city to pick up Pierce's attorney fees.

Poor, poor Tennie Pierce. The lost soul was tricked into eating a little dog food. Being hired and handsomely paid by the taxpayers with the honor of serving 20 years with the LAFD is overshadowed with the horrible shame he had to endure for the 30 seconds that took him back to the days 200 years ago of when he was locked up as a slave. The man who demanded "feed the Big Dawg!!!!" in a fire station volleyball game was psychologically ruined for life in that 30 seconds of dog food in his spaghetti! Poor, poor man!! No, retiring at the ripe old age of 45 with near full salary for the rest of his life on the backs of CA taxpayers isn't enough! No, he MUST sue the taxpayers for the juvenile prank by his fellow firefighters lasting no more than 30 seconds for the horrible shame the pour soul endured. Don't you dare bring up the fact that he himself participated in many such pranks in his 20 years with the department!! No ... HE'S A VICTIM!! This city has nothing better to spend things on like streets, sewers, water, etc., no this money is OWED to poor Tennie Pierce!

This city council and the city attorney's office are pathetic morons. This nonsense must be finally put to a stop NOW.

Tennie should have got more. He was wronged and dissed.

If you valley people don't like it.........then move.

The more of you that move, the more change we Democrats can take over Los Angeles, then California and then the country!

Taxpayers should not even have to worry about the makeup of the jury, or its collective brainpower. The persons actually responsible should be the only ones being sued. Without our deep pockets, the payouts would be a lot smaller, and less of a sure thing. Dare I say, things would be more reasonable and just, and less like a lottery.

So much for "latent" racism. You should all be proud of yourselves...

Anybody here mad at the particular FFs that have created this whole mess in the first place????

Not one single mention above about the fact that the LAFD is a total disaster. The Feds are coming, the Feds are coming!

Those are democrats in leadership. What more can you expect?

I don't know to what extent race played in this case. I do know however,that racial issues are part of a larger complex of interlocking systemic issues affecting the LAFD. This department has serious longstanding management issues and the public has for too long turned a blind eye and allowed the fire department to self manage without any form of accountability. The result has been an environment where harrassment, discrimintation, hazing, inimidation and management retailiation have become the norm. It is way past time for all involved to take a comprehensive and honest look at the innerworkings of the LAFD and to make the findings public so that the taxpayers will know how their hard earned money is being spent. I am sure that we will all be shocked at the results.

I don't know to what extent race played in this case. I do know however,that racial issues are part of a larger complex of interlocking systemic issues affecting the LAFD. This department has serious longstanding management issues and the public has for too long turned a blind eye and allowed the fire department to self manage without any form of accountability. The result has been an environment where harrassment, discrimintation, hazing, inimidation and management retailiation have become the norm. It is way past time for all involved to take a comprehensive and honest look at the innerworkings of the LAFD and to make the findings public so that the taxpayers will know how their hard earned money is being spent. I am sure that we will all be shocked at the results.

Poor Tennie

The city's private law firm probably wanted to settle because they have their own pending racial discrimination charges pending.

Can we all just get along.