Ex-Firefighter Accepts Settlement Over AIDS Incident

A former Los Angeles County fire captain who alleges that he was mistreated by Fire Department officials after he was exposed to AIDS while treating an accident victim reluctantly agreed Thursday to accept an $85,000 settlement in his lawsuit against the county.

Jon Neil Galiher, a 27-year veteran of the Fire Department, said he had second thoughts about the settlement, which was approved Monday by the county Claims Board, because county officials had publicized the amount.

But he said he decided it was “time to move on” rather than pursue the $1.75-million personal injury suit filed in March in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

“We can’t beat a dead horse to death,” Galiher said, his eyes filling with tears. “I’m trying to put my life in order now.”

Galiher’s lawsuit did not blame the Fire Department for his exposure to AIDS during a May, 1985, rescue attempt in Topanga Canyon. Instead, the suit said his fears about that exposure and efforts to improve training and protection for his co-workers were greeted with ridicule and indifference by his bosses.

“I have no compunction then or now to deal with an AIDS patient,” Galiher said after a news conference in his attorney’s Santa Monica office. “I’m just saying that we as emergency workers and health workers deserve the training and equipment to adequately give them the compassion they deserve without giving risk to ourselves.”

County and Los Angeles city attorneys said the settlement closed the first lawsuit involving public employees and on-the-job exposure to acquired immune deficiency syndrome in Los Angeles County. No other AIDS-related cases are pending.

Galiher, 48, retired from the department last spring, although he says he was forced out by Fire Department management. He lives in Paso Robles.

A letter dated Nov. 14 and signed by Galiher’s attorney, Morse A. Taylor, and Deputy County Counsel Dennis M. Gonzales stated that the “amount of the settlement would be kept confidential by both parties.”

However, under state public records law, the settlement amount had to be listed in the posted agenda for Monday’s closed-door meeting of the county Claims Board, officials said.

“If that was in that letter, that was unfortunate,” said S. Robert Ambrose, assistant county counsel. “No settlement with a public entity--be it city or county--can be approved without divulging the amount.”

‘An Absolute Win’

After the Claims Board approved the settlement, Galiher threatened to reject the agreement because of the publicity. While he said he believed that the settlement indicated “an absolute win” for him, he said he feared that his critics in the county would dwell on the nearly $1-million difference between what he asked for and what he received.

“Unfortunately, values in this country are based on money,” he said.

Taylor said he advised his client to stick with the original settlement.

“Unless we could prove there was some long-lasting damage from the county releasing the amount, it’s not clear a court would rule in our favor,” Taylor said.

Fire officials have declined to comment on the settlement. Ambrose said he recommended that the county agree to pay $85,000 to avoid a potentially costly trial and because “it seemed a fair way to end it.”

AIDS Clinic Card

Galiher, trained as a paramedic, led a four-person team from the Topanga fire station on May 19, 1985, to try to save Mark Edwin Pennington, who had driven his car off a cliff. After attempts to revive the blood-soaked man failed, a card from an AIDS clinic was discovered in his wallet. Pennington’s doctor later confirmed that his patient had suffered from AIDS and from hepatitis B.

AIDS is transmitted by bodily fluids, including blood, but so far none of the team members have shown evidence of the virus.

The lawsuit claimed Galiher’s civil rights were violated when he was escorted from a fire station on May 15, 1987, by fire officials who had objected to his criticism of a rescue training videotape that he said fell short in outlining ways to avoid exposure to AIDS. Four days later, Galiher was barred by former Fire Chief John Englund from entering any fire stations without 24-hour notice.