TORRANCE : City Fights Lawsuit in Unfair Hiring Case

Five months after the federal government filed a lawsuit charging the city with unfair hiring practices, the City Council agreed to dip into city reserves to fight the charge.

After a two-year investigation, the U.S. Department of Justice filed the lawsuit in July, charging that the city violated the federal Civil Rights Act by not taking proper measures to recruit and hire minority police officers and firefighters. The lawsuit also charges the city with creating a hostile work environment for black police officers.

The City Council voted unanimously last month to use $200,000 from a city reserve fund for legal costs through June. At that time the council will decide whether to authorize additional funds, officials said. The money will be taken from the city’s litigation defense reserve fund of $230,000.

“The council feels strongly that this suit . . . is unjustified,” said Mayor Katy Geissert.

An ethnic breakdown of the city’s 147 firefighters was not available, but in July, the city’s 236-member police force was 84.6% white, 8.1% Latino, 4.3% Asian, 1.7% American Indian and 1.3% black, police officials said. The 1990 Census figures indicated a more diverse community: Slightly more than one-fifth of the city’s 133,000 residents are Asian American, 10% are Latino and 1.7% are African American.