EEOC Finds Systematic Discrimination at LA Fire Department

The Los Angeles office of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sent two letters to the newly installed African American Chief Doug Barry of the Los Angeles Fire Department where the federal agency said that the LAFD has illegally discriminated on the basis of race and sex. L.A. Observed links to coverage of the issue in the Los Angeles Times and the Daily News in today's Morning Buzz.

According to The Times, Olophius E. Perry, director of the agency's Los Angeles office, wrote that there is "reasonable cause to believe that a pattern and practice of . . . harassment and retaliation exists for a class of female and black firefighters based on gender and race."

Well, duh!

Mad Professah has been closely following the multiple cases of alleged discrimination on the basis of race, sex and sexual orientation which have been besetting the LAFD. The most celebrated lawsuits have resulted in multi-million dollar settlements and/or judgments for Tennie Pierce ($1.43m) and Brenda Lee ($6.5m).

It should be noted that the EEOC letter is in response to new complaints, and that the Fire Department has already posted a response to the letter on its website.