Firefighters ride gravy train on discrimination

As I drove past the Los Angeles Fire Department’s Elysian Park training center Tuesday, a young man in firefighting duds was hanging a recruitment sign on the fence outside.

“Now Hiring,” it read. “LA’s Hottest Job.” Down the block, another sign flapping in the wind seemed to plead: “Be a firefighter. Positions Now Open. Inquire within.”

I envision a rush of applicants soon . . . though I don’t know if they’ll be signing up to fight fires or lining up for a spot on the “victim of discrimination” gravy train.

It seems like there’s no end to the way firefighters can be discriminated against these days.

A pretty female firefighter who was kissed and hounded by her male boss got $320,000 to settle her harassment case.

A tough-talking, black lesbian won a $6.2-million jury verdict for being a victim of vile station-house pranks, including urine poured in her mouthwash bottle. Then, two white male firefighters who tried to protect her sued the department, claiming they were victims of retaliation. They walked away with more than $2 million between them.

A male captain reprimanded by the department when a female firefighter was injured during his training drill later wound up in court as a victim of unfair treatment. He said he was ordered by his bosses to go easy on female firefighters, and unfairly punished when he refused. A jury gave him $3.7 million.

Then, on Monday, two white fire captains who said they were made scapegoats in the infamous Tennie Pierce dog-food case won a $1.6-million racial discrimination verdict, bringing the price tag for that case to $4.5 million.

They were in charge of the Westchester station where Pierce -- called “Big Dawg” -- was tricked into eating dog food after his team won a volleyball game. A deputy chief recommended the captains be suspended -- 30 days without pay for one and 24 for the other -- but ordered the Latino firefighter who added the dog food to Pierce’s spaghetti suspended for only six.

Now I’m waiting for the Latino guy to sue. Maybe he can claim discrimination, since every major player in this ugly saga walked off with a big payday except him.

No matter how you feel about firehouse pranks, female firefighters or race-based claims, this string of big-ticket payouts gives us all a through-the-looking-glass opportunity to see a management system in disarray.

And if you live in the city of Los Angeles, you’re picking up the $16-million tab for dysfunction that doesn’t seem to go away.

Now, it’s no longer just about stopping frat-house antics and hazing. It’s about fixing a broken system that has left firefighters confused and resentful, and tarnished the image of a respected department.

City Controller Laura Chick saw this coming three years ago. Her audit of the Fire Department found widespread hazing and harassment, a lack of communication between firefighters and brass, and fears of whistle-blower retaliation.

The systemic problems she found are now playing out in the courts and in the firehouses. The department’s recruit training has been inconsistent, landing unqualified rookies in fire stations. Complaint investigation has been sloppy, often reckless, allowing minor issues to grow into raging fires. And the disciplinary system is so arbitrary and unfair that firefighters can be punished and rewarded for the same actions.

“When you have a system with uneven consequences, without a rhyme or reason, it’s perceived as unfair and it’s therefore ineffective,” Chick told me Tuesday.

When I interviewed Fire Chief Doug Barry last month, he outlined ambitious plans to revamp the department’s training, leadership and discipline. He wants penalty guidelines that are tougher and more specific, better-trained investigators and more civilian oversight.

But he has more problems than the city has resources. He’s getting in line, hat in hand, for crumbs, just like every other department manager.

Meanwhile, at least half a dozen other discrimination claims are already in the pipeline. And as the recent past has shown, it’s anybody guess what juries will find.

Attorney Genie Harrison negotiated Pierce’s settlement and won two other discrimination cases. She’s learned to see cases through jurors’ eyes.

“Any time [the jury] sees the Fire Department is not applying its rules and regulations, its standards across the board, that’s proof that the system is broken,” she said. “And they see it as broken both for the victims and the perpetrators.”

Whatever the price tag for fixing the department, it’s got to be cheaper and less painful than this long, slow slide.

sandy.banks@latimes.com