MAYOR VETOES HAZING PAYOFF PICTURES SHOW FIREFIGHTER PLAYING PRANKS ALSO.

Byline: KERRY CAVANAUGH Staff Writer

Responding to community outrage over the $2.7 million awarded to a black firefighter who said he suffered racial discrimination when his colleagues hid dog food in his spaghetti, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa vetoed the settlement Monday after seeing photos of the firefighter participating in pranks himself.

The mayor's veto -- his first in office -- sends the settlement with Tennie Pierce back to the City Council, which had approved the payout Nov. 8 and couldn't muster enough votes last week to reconsider the settlement after the prank photos came to light.

``Given the magnitude of the recommended settlement, the taxpayers have a right to demand a reconsideration with the full benefit of all the facts,'' Villaraigosa said at an afternoon press conference.

The proposed Pierce payout would have been the largest employment settlement in the Los Angeles Fire Department's history. The case comes as the department faces a number of workplace lawsuits and struggles to reform the firehouse culture that critics say has fostered harassment, discrimination and hazing.

In his announcement, the mayor also issued an executive order banning hazing among all city employees and all departments. The Los Angeles Fire Department already has a zero-tolerance stand against hazing but the mayor said that policy and its punishments are unclear.

``You call it hazing, you call it harassment or whatever you call it, it's going to stop. We are not going to tolerate that kind of activity in the city of Los Angeles. It's unprofessional, it's juvenile and it's unacceptable.''

Councilman Dennis Zine praised the mayor's decision. He was the lone council member to vote against the $2.7 million settlement and he later tried to get the City Council to reverse its decision after seeing photos of Pierce hazing fellow firefighters.

``Those who attack others should not be rewarded, and the mayor's actions today show an understanding of rational common sense,'' Zine said Monday.

Genie Harrison, the attorney representing Pierce, did not return phone calls Monday. She is representing a number of firefighters with harassment cases against the LAFD and had called Pierce's case a shocking betrayal for the veteran firefighter.

The proposed settlement stemmed from an incident in the Westchester fire station in which 19-year veteran Pierce was served a plate of spaghetti with dog food in it. He ate a few bites, noticed his colleagues laughing and demanded to know what they put in his food. Later another colleague admitted to putting dog food in his meal.

Pierce said the incident was sparked by a volleyball game earlier that day when he'd bragged, ``You guys keep feeding the Big Dog,'' which was his nickname.

But he felt the prank was offensive and humiliating and took on a particularly malicious character because he is African-American and his colleagues are not, according to a lawsuit he filed last year.

Pierce's supervisors bought the can of dog food, watched the prank and later tried to cover up the incident. They were later suspended, but Pierce said the incident left him traumatized.

Colleagues continued to harass him by barking at him and making jokes about dog food until he eventually took a leave from work.

The City Council initially approved the $2.7 million settlement because members believed it was too risky to fight the case in court. Zine cast the only ``no'' vote of the 11 members present that day. He argued that pranks were common in the fire and police departments.

But after the settlement, several photos were made public that showed Pierce and fellow firefighters smearing mustard and other liquids over colleagues who are tied onto chairs and gurneys.

The images were discussed widely on talk radio, and Zine and Councilman Bill Rosendahl tried to get the City Council to reconsider the settlement.

But the council split 6-6. Now with the mayor's veto, the council needs 10 votes to re-enact the settlement. City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo's spokesman Nick Velasquez said his office is prepared to defend the city in court if the council withdraws the settlement.

Some council members have questioned how much Delgadillo's office knew about the Pierce hazing photos before the settlement decision and whether the city attorney provided enough information to the council members before they voted.

Councilman Jack Weiss introduced a motion calling for more thorough briefings for cases with payouts of more than $1 million.

Even with the new photos of Pierce, Weiss said he still thinks the case could be difficult for the city.

``I still think it's a very tricky case to try and I think that's why the city attorney recommended settlement. It still involves explosive allegations on both sides.''

kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announces his veto Monday of the settlement approved by the City Council to a firefighter involved in a hazing incident.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer