Council OKs payout in bias lawsuit

The Los Angeles City Council voted 10 to 1 on Wednesday to settle with one plaintiff in another lawsuit involving allegations of discrimination by the Fire Department.

The $350,000 settlement will go to Gary Mellinger, one of three firefighters who in 2005 filed a lawsuit alleging that they were the subject of age or racial discrimination and subsequently forced from their jobs.

The council acted two days after Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa vetoed a $2.7-million settlement in the case of a black firefighter who alleged that he was the subject of racism after colleagues put dog food into one of his meals in 2004.

In the latest case, Mellinger alleged that from the mid-1990s until his forced termination in 2005 he was discriminated against because of his age and association with the two other plaintiffs, according to a complaint filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Mellinger also alleged that one of his superiors often made derogatory remarks about him and his colleague Lewis Bressler -- often referring to them as “old guys” -- and had profane nicknames for them. In addition, that superior once told other firefighters “make sure that you vacuum up all that dead skin around the beds” left by Mellinger and Bressler.

Bressler and Brenda Lee are the two remaining plaintiffs. In the complaint, Lee alleged that she was discriminated against because she is black, a woman and a lesbian.

Among her allegations are that she was forced to do repeated exercises involving a heavy ladder, that her locker was ransacked on two occasions, that she experienced retaliation for talking to a department advocate about discrimination and that she was ultimately declared unfit for duty by the department.

Bressler’s part of the case is set for trial Jan. 16. Lee’s trial date is expected to follow soon after, officials said.

The $350,000 settlement for Mellinger includes $73,000 in attorney fees.

The attorneys for Bressler and Lee, Thomas Hoegh and Jill Shigut, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Councilman Dennis Zine cast the lone vote against settling with Mellinger -- just as he had in the case involving the firefighter who was fed dog food.

Zine said that one of the Fire Department officials “should be held liable for his actions” and not the city.

In related news, Council President Eric Garcetti and his colleague Jack Weiss sent a letter to City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo requesting to see more evidence in the dog food case involving Tennie Pierce.

Weiss complained Tuesday that he was unaware of all the evidence -- particularly photos of Pierce engaging in fire station pranks -- in the Pierce case before voting on the settlement. The city attorney’s office has said that the council was apprised of the photos.

steve.hymon@latimes.com