LAFD to pay nearly $500K to settle federal discrimination charges

Thursday, February 2, 2012

LAFD to pay nearly $500K to settle federal discrimination charges

The Los Angeles Fire Department will pay $494,150 and institute anti-harassment training to settle federal discrimination charges on behalf of a male firefighter who was harassed by coworkers over a sexual abuse suit linked to the Catholic Church.

Anthony Almeida, a firefighter and engineer with the department, filed a discrimination charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2007, alleging that he was continually harassed by fellow firefighters at his station.

The alleged harassment began in 2006 after Almeida filed a lawsuit against the L.A. Archdiocese over sexual abuse.

According to the commission, a coworker learned about the suit and several others mocked him, using explicit and offensive religious and sexual epithets.

On Tuesday, the department announced a $494,150 settlement in the case. The department must continue to enforce its policies against discrimination, harassment and retaliation. The department will also offer an external equal employment opportunity complaint procedure.

"By working with the EEOC this way, the Department is sending a message that no further civil rights abuses will be tolerated -- a key responsibility of all employers," said Olophius Perry, district director for the EEOC’s Los Angeles district office, in a statement.

California Fire News 2011

No comments:

How fires get their names

Every year in California thousands of wildfires start throughout the state. In most cases, the dispatch center sending the initial resources to a wildland fire will designate a name for the fire, but the first on scene engine or fire official can also name the incident. Fires are usually named for the area in which they start – a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc. Quickly naming the fire provides responding fire resources with an additional locater, and allows fire officials to track and prioritize incidents by name. For example during the Southern California Fire Siege of 2003, the largest wildland fire in California history, the Cedar Fire in San Diego County, was named after the Cedar Creek Falls area where it started. The destructive Old Fire, which burned during the same time period in San Bernardino County, was named after the road along which it started - Old Waterman Canyon Road.

CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States. CDF - CAL FIRE Firefighters answer the call more than 300,000 times a year. CAL FIRE Firefighters make up the fire department for 30 of our 58 counties in California and more than 100 local communities. We serve as the incident command during many of California’s most serious disasters. CAL FIRE Firefighters respond to many various types and forms of calls ranging from structural fires, to auto accidents, to earthquakes, to floods, to the spilling of hazardous materials, to every conceivable disaster; CAL FIRE answer's the calls. CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States . CAL FIRE firefighters protect 33 million acres of State Responsibility Area (SRA). We have over 4,000 members within CAL FIRE and CAL FIRE is associated with the California Professional Firefighters (CPF) and the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF).

CFN - CALIFORNIA FIRE NEWS - CAL FIRE NEWS

Thursday, February 2, 2012