LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday agreed to pay up to $3 million to settle a lawsuit brought by a group of firefighters who alleged that they faced retaliation after reporting misconduct in the Fire Prevention Bureau.
The council voted 11-0 for the settlement payout. Councilmen Joe Buscaino, Mike Bonin, John Lee and Kevin de León were absent.
In their 2017 lawsuit, about half a dozen firefighters said untrained fire inspectors took part in rushed or incomplete building inspections. These were part of the Los Angeles Fire Department's "Operation Catch-Up" program, launched following a 2015 Los Angeles Times report on the backlog of overdue inspections.
