Local News in Brief : Fire Captain Files Suit

A veteran Los Angeles fire captain sued the county Fire Department Wednesday, alleging he was denied a promotion to battalion chief because of age discrimination.

The federal court suit was filed by Clinton W. Mills Jr., 56, of Long Beach, who joined the department in 1960 and now is one of more than 500 fire captains, a post that pays about $48,000 a year.

Mills said he has been competing for the $54,000-a-year post of battalion chief for the past two years. In the last year, the lawsuit said, all the men promoted to the position have been younger than Mills.

When Mills learned in March that he had been passed over for promotion, he talked to Fire Chief John Englund, “who specifically told (Mills) that his age was a consideration in the promotional process,” the suit said.

Deputy Fire Chief David Hanson later told him it “was his policy to promote younger people to battalion chief who will someday manage the department,” the suit says.

Englund could not be reached for comment, but Battalion Chief Gordon Pearson, a department spokesman, said the department does not consider age a factor in promotions.