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LOS ANGELES - A black firefighter who stood to collect nearly US$3 million ($4.48 million) over a prank involving dog food in his spaghetti is at the centre of a political and racial furore in Los Angeles.
After two days of grappling with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's veto of a US$2.7 million settlement in a racial discrimination lawsuit filed by 19-year fire department worker Tennie Pierce, 51, the City Council voted to send the case back to the drawing board.
At issue is whether Pierce was the victim of a harmless joke or vicious racism when his comrades slipped dog food into his spaghetti two years ago.
The 2005 lawsuit attracted little notice until last month, when the council took the advice of its lawyer Rocky Delgadillo and voted to pay the Pierce payout without going to trial. The settlement, one of the largest in the city's history for a fire department discrimination claim, also would allow Pierce to retire after one more year of service, when he is entitled to a pension roughly equal to half of his annual salary for the rest of his life.
Critics were infuriated by the huge payout and deluged Delgadillo and the council with cans of dog food in protest.
Pictures appeared of Pierce engaging in a series of fire station pranks - in one instance apparently helping shave the genital area of a firefighter bound to a gurney.
Delgadillo must either reach a new settlement with Pierce's lawyers or take the case to trial.
- REUTERS
