CIVIL-RIGHTS GROUPS HIT MAYOR'S VETO OF PAYOUT NAACP CALLS VILLARAIGOSA'S DECISION AN `OUTRAGE'.

Byline: KERRY CAVANAUGH Staff Writer

Civil-rights groups blasted Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Tuesday for vetoing a $2.7 million payout to settle a racial-discrimination lawsuit filed by a black firefighter tricked into eating dog food.

Villaraigosa overturned on Monday the City Council's decision to settle the case after viewing photos that showed that Firefighter Tennie Pierce had engaged in pranks and hazing himself.

But activists said the mayor bowed to community pressure and that his veto ignores the racial implications of the case and the long history of discrimination and harassment within the department.

``We and the community are outraged by the Mayor's decision, which sends the worst possible message to the victims of discrimination, harassment and retaliation in the Los Angeles Fire Department,'' the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People wrote in a statement released Tuesday.

``It is an outrage for the city to ratify and condone the `isms' by allowing retaliatory actions to derail the settlement of this case, which was recommended by the City Attorney and approved by the City Council.''

Villaraigosa said he did not regret his veto and considers it a matter of being financially responsible.

``I take a back seat to no one when it comes to fighting racism,'' Villaraigosa said. ``I don't think this is the issue here.

``We received new evidence involving this case -- the largest payout in city history to an employee -- and I think we need to take a closer look at it.''

The controversy comes as the Los Angeles Fire Department struggles with renewed allegations of retaliation, racial discrimination and sexual harassment.

In response, the Fire Commission on Tuesday tentatively approved new guidelines that outline punishments for 145 different offenses.

Now, most discrimination and harassment offenses trigger a Board of Rights hearing and could result in a minimum one-month suspension or termination. Hazing and horseplay result in a minimum 16-day suspension and could lead to termination for the first offense.

``These guidelines are going to say ... that we are not going to have hazing anymore,'' said Fire Commissioner Genethia Hudley-Hayes, who helped develop the guidelines with firefighter groups.

Fire Chief William Bamattre said the LAFD has had a zero-tolerance policy for pranks, but the guidelines should ensure that bad behavior gets punished or results in firing.

Still, civil-rights groups called for Bamattre -- who is set to retire in February 2008 -- to resign because he has failed to root out racism, sexism and retaliation in the department despite having been brought in as a reformer 11 years ago.

``It is very clear that the leadership has failed to implement the programs necessary to get rid of racism, sexism, nepotism, discrimination and all forms of harassment,'' said Jamal Watkins, western regional director for the NAACP.

Activists and Pierce's attorneys also accused the mayor and city leaders of smearing Pierce by bringing up old photographs of firehouse horseplay -- such as dumping water on colleagues, smearing mustard and condiments over restrained firefighters and shaving their genitals -- to minimize his claim of a racially motivated prank.

Pierce's case began when supervisors and fellow firefighters mixed dog food into his spaghetti. It was a prank designed to humble him after a volleyball game earlier that day when he'd bragged, ``You guys keep feeding the Big Dog,'' which was his nickname.

In his lawsuit, Pierce called the joke offensive, humiliating and particularly malicious because he was African-American and his colleagues were not. After he complained, colleagues harassed him, by barking and making dog-food jokes, he said, eventually forcing him to take a leave from work.

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