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The Associated Press
 AP Photo/Ric Francis Tennie Pierce listens during a City Council meeting in 2006 in Los Angeles. |
LOS ANGELES — A jury awarded $1.6 million Monday to two city Fire Department captains who claimed they were made scapegoats for the misconduct of a firefighter who laced a black firefighter’s spaghetti with dog food.
The award to Capts. John D. Tohill and Christopher R. Burton was the latest fallout in the racial harassment case involving Tennie Pierce.
The city agreed to pay the black firefighter $1.5 million last year to settle claims that he suffered harassment and retaliation after co-workers served him the tainted food as a prank.
Tohill was awarded $1.052 million and Burton $592,000. The two sued the city in 2006, alleging they were discriminated against because they are white.
They claimed that when they found out about the incident they took immediate steps to address it, according to their lawsuits.
They also alleged that the department “never conducted a formal investigation” and suspended them without pay for several weeks under “political pressure” from city officials.
Meanwhile, the firefighter who tampered with Pierce’s dinner in October 2004 only received a six-day suspension, they claimed.
The jury deliberated for about 1 1/2 days before reaching a verdict in the captains’ case.
“I’m totally pleased that the jury was able to sit through three weeks of trial and come to the conclusions they did,” Burton, 62, said. “Captain Tohill and I said all along that all we wanted to do was re-establish our credibility and reputations.”
Attorney Ed Zappia, who defended the city, said he could not comment on the verdict because he had not discussed it with city officials.
“Obviously, we’re not happy with it,” he said.
The City Council initially voted to award more than $2.7 million to Pierce.
But that deal was later vetoed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa when photos surfaced on a Web site showing Pierce participating in hazing pranks.
The city later reduced the settlement amount, but an additional $1.3 million in legal fees pushed the total cost of the case to $2.8 million — about $100,000 more than the settlement first offered by the council.