County OKs $85,000 for AIDS-Exposed Ex-Firefighter

The Los Angeles County Claims Board on Monday approved an $85,000 settlement to a former county firefighter who says he was harassed by his co-workers and superiors after being exposed to acquired immune deficiency syndrome during a rescue.

Jon Neil Galiher, a former captain, had asked for as much as $2.2 million in a lawsuit filed against the county Fire Department in March.

Fire officials declined to comment on the settlement. But Assistant County Counsel S. Robert Ambrose said that he recommended that the county accept the settlement to avoid a potentially costly jury settlement.

Galiher’s attorney, Morse A. Taylor, said his client had agreed to settle rather than face the stress of a lengthy trial.

However, Taylor said he and Galiher have had second thoughts about the settlement because its amount was made public in the agenda for the closed-door Claims Board hearing. Galiher was out of town Monday and unavailable for comment, but Taylor said he and his client will make a decision later this week.

Nancy Singer, chairwoman of the Claims Board, said that under the state public records law, an award’s amount has to be listed on the meeting’s agenda.

4-Member Team

Galiher headed a four-person team from the Topanga Fire Station that tried to save the life of Mark Edwin Pennington, 33, of Echo Park, who drove his car over a cliff May 19, 1985. The team’s efforts to revive the blood-covered man failed. Later, a deputy coroner found a card for an AIDS clinic in Pennington’s wallet. Pennington’s doctor later confirmed that his patient had suffered from AIDS and from hepatitis B.

No team member has contracted either AIDS or hepatitis B. However, Galiher has said that his main concern was that his colleagues’ fear prompted ridicule and indifference.

Galiher says in his lawsuit that his civil rights were violated when he was escorted out of a fire station May 15, 1987, by fire officials who objected to his criticism of a rescue-training video. Taylor said the video did not adequately prepare firefighters for dealing with AIDS victims.

Four days later, Galiher was barred by then-Fire Chief John Englund from entering any fire station without giving 24 hours notice, according to a letter from the fire chief.

“This suit has to do with violation of his right to freedom of speech, his right to freedom of association and denial of due process,” Taylor said.

At the time of the 1987 incident, Galiher was on a stress-related leave of absence from the department. Afterward he retired, citing stress as the primary factor. One of the three other rescuers is on leave, Taylor said, and another has left the department.

On Monday, the three-member Claims Board, which includes Singer and representatives of the county counsel and county administrator’s offices, unanimously agreed to the settlement with Galiher.

Since the 1985 incident, the county has revised its rescue procedures to try to protect firefighters and paramedics from exposure to communicable disease. Taylor and Los Angeles Firefighters Union No. 1014 said Galiher’s complaint was the catalyst for the change, but fire officials downplayed his role.

Public awareness of the danger of spreading AIDS and other diseases “has become focused in the last couple of years,” said Battalion Chief Gordon Pearson. “And we as first responders have tried to keep up with what’s new in the medical business.”

Pearson said the department now routinely issues rubber gloves and special resuscitation equipment to paramedics.

“When Galiher was involved, a lot of the apparatus we use today was available,” Pearson said. “Whether he chose to use it or not, I don’t really know.”

Taylor said that regardless of what equipment was available in 1985, the Fire Department had inadequate procedures for dealing with or preventing exposure to AIDS.