Braude Urges City to Fashion Own Suit Against Tobacco Firms

One day after Los Angeles County announced its plan to join San Francisco and several states in suing the tobacco industry to recover costs of treating smoking-related illnesses, Los Angeles Councilman Marvin Braude on Wednesday introduced a motion suggesting the city try a similar strategy to recoup pension benefits paid to people disabled by smoking.

“The taxpayers of Los Angeles pay out money every year into disability pensions for city employees who are forced to retire early on various disabilities caused by smoking,” Braude said at a City Hall press conference. “So the taxpayers, like the smokers, have been victimized by the tobacco industry.”

Braude said he is unsure how many city workers’ retirements were triggered by smoking-related illnesses, or how much their pensions have cost the city. His motion asks city staff to study that and to look for a private law firm that would be willing to press the suit on a contingency basis so it would cost the taxpayers nothing unless successful.