Preview

Lafd Case Study

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
6981 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Lafd Case Study
____________________________________________________________

__________

College of Business and Economics CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, LOS ANGELES

LOS ANGELES FIRE DEPARTMENT (LAFD): DIVERSITY IGNITES DISCRIMINATION
Patricia Robbins & Stephen McGuire
October 2, 2009 This case study is a revised version of the original study authored by Oshin Babaian, Fernando Iniguez, Vardui Koshkaryan, Maribel Pelayo, Patricia Robbins & Taguhi Sogomonyan under the supervision of Prof. Stephen McGuire, “Los Angeles Fire Department,” Proceedings of the 2008 NACRA Annual Meeting, 22 (1), Oct. 30-Nov. 1, Durham, NH.

“Feed the Big Dog!” touted forty-nine-year-old African American veteran firefighter, Tennie Pierce, at the crew’s early morning beach volleyball game in October 2004. Pierce, who called himself “Big Dog” during the games, taunted the much shorter Latino paramedic, twenty-four-year-old Jorge Arevalo as he repeatedly shouted “I take craps bigger than you!” 1 comparing Arevalo to the size of his feces. The dinner bell rang at six that evening at Fire Station 5 in Westchester, California. It was Arevalo’s turn to cook dinner. Arriving fifteen minutes late, Pierce began eating the spaghetti with meat sauce that awaited him on the stove. After a few bites, he noticed some of the men laughing. Pierce demanded to know what was in his food, and as the others chuckled, he ran out. Jorge Arevalo apologized to Pierce that night for mixing dog food into his dinner. An Asian female firefighter stated that Pierce accepted the apology and called it “water under the bridge.” 2 It was a surprise to some of the crewmembers when Pierce later Pierce later sued the city for racial discrimination and was rewarded $1.43 million in settlement with $60,000 in back pay. TENNIE PIERCE (Source: www.msnbc.msn.com)

The LAFD’s long-held tradition of horseplay and pranks resulted in a number of lawsuits that claimed discrimination and harassment on the basis of race, gender and sexual



References: Pelisek, Christine. “What really happened at fire station 5?” LA Weekly. 14 Mar. 2007 . Pelisek, Christine. “What really happened at fire station 5?” LA Weekly. 14 Mar. 2007 . Pelisek, Christine. “What really happened at fire station 5?” LA Weekly. 14 Mar. 2007 . Banks, Sandy. “Female Firefighters Harassed in Los Angeles.” LA Time. 3 Dec. 2006 27 Banks, Sandy. “Female Firefighters Harassed in Los Angeles.” LA Times. 3 Dec. 2006 http://cms.firehouse.com/web/online/News/Female-Firefighters-Harassed-in-LosAngeles/46$52301 Kandel, Jason Banks, Sandy. “Female Firefighters Harassed in Los Angeles.” LA Times. 3 Dec. 2006 LAFD: DIVERSITY IGNITES DISCRIMINATION 24 Banks, Sandy. “Female Firefighters Harassed in Los Angeles.” LA Times. 3 Dec. 2006 http://cms.firehouse.com/web/online/News/Female-Firefighters-Harassed-in-LosAngeles/46$52301

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    On April 21, 2014, I responded to 100 Eddie Lane, at the request of the Captain from Engine 1. Arrival at the scene by the unit was 0200 hours. At the time of the investigators arrival, the fire had been extinguished by Engine 1. I observed a wood-frame construction, two-story, basement, one-family residence. The fire was restricted to the main structure, meaning no out buildings or vehicles were involved. Access to the property is at the gravel driveway to the left and I made entry into the structure was made through the front door after documenting photos of the outside of the structure. The fire occurred during the day, which was bright and sunny with temperature at 68degrees, there was also a slight breeze at about 6mph from the n/w. The breeze would have been blowing against the backside corner of the home.…

    • 1201 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Duran, Melissa. “Devastating 1980 Fire Resulted in Life Safety Changes.” 8NewsNow. 8NewsNow. 18 January 2011. Web. 24 March 2011.…

    • 809 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Facts: Between 1985 and 1990 Beth Ann Faragher worked part time and during the summers as an ocean lifeguard for the Marine Safety Section of the Parks and Recreation Department of the City of Boca Raton, Florida. During this time, Faragher's immediate supervisors were Bill Terry, David Silverman, and Robert Gordan. Two years after resigning as a lifeguard in 1990, Beth Ann Faragher brought an action against the City of Boca Raton, Terry and Silverman alleging the supervisors had created a sexually hostile atmosphere by touching, remarking, and commenting. Faragher asserted that this conduct constituted discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In 1986 the City adopted a sexual harassment policy, however the policy did not reach the Marine Safety Section where Faragher worked. Faragher did not make any formal complaints against…

    • 454 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    From U.S. national Institute for Standards and Technology. business community program.  From U.S. National Fire protection association.…

    • 1114 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    On June 29, 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a controversial five to four decision in Ricci v. DeStefano. The case of Ricci vs DeStefano raises the uncomfortable but common question of how far will employers go to favor one race over another? In other words, discrimination was at play in the case, in a scenario that will be unexpected to readers. The case of Frank Ricci vs. John DeStefano was established through an invalid act in the case of firefighters, promoting firefighters to be precise.…

    • 1069 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    First Paper

    • 2310 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Mach, A., White, J., (2012), Human remains found at home of gunman who ambushed firefighters, retrieved from,…

    • 2310 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Wildland Firefighting Order

    • 3000 Words
    • 12 Pages

    Wildland Firefighting, Clayton, Day and McFadden, Chapter 12 IFSTA, Ground Cover Fire Fighting Practices, 2nd Edition, Chapter 6…

    • 3000 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Unit 5 Assignment 1

    • 1034 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Furthermore, no longer can we use ignorance as an excuse for not taking a greater stand in favor of fire suppression systems being used in residences, for the research is endless on this topic and so is the buzz surrounding it. Considering the level of attention this topic receives, there are no short of opinions on the issue—and very strong opinions at…

    • 1034 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Lafd Analysis

    • 867 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Diversity discriminations were the internal issue of LAFD for so many years. A heavy price has had paid by LAFD for the lawsuits. In 2007, women constituted 2.6 percent, numbering approximately 95 out of 3,562 firefighters of the LAFD. However, according to an audit by the city’s personnel department in 2006, females accounted for 56 percent of all multimillion-dollar lawsuits between 1996 and 2005. Not only gender discrimination cost that much money, but also other discriminations spent millions of LAFD’s money, such as hazing and age discrimination. In2007, Captain Lime won 3.75 million on filed a reverse retaliation discrimination lawsuit against the LAFD. In 2008, LAFD paid 1.6 million in settlement to two captains who filed a reverse racial discrimination lawsuit. Bressler, age 65, and Mellinger, age 54, filed lawsuits that alleged six LAFD supervisors harassed and retaliated against them, forcing them to retire. Bressler won 1.73 million and Mellinger was awarded 350 thousand as the result.…

    • 867 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Until 1990, no female firefighters had ever served in the City of Providence Fire Department. In January, 1992, O'Rourke and six other women who had passed a written examination were admitted to the City's firefighter six-month training program, along with 77 male trainees. All through the fire academy, as well as her first several years working as a fire fighter, O’Rourke was slandered and sexually harassed. On July 10, 1995, O'Rourke filed a discrimination charge with the Rhode Island Commission of Human Rights and with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and received notice of right to sue. O'Rourke also filed a federal court complaint against the City on June 30, 1995, and an amended complaint on July 17, 1995. O'Rourke introduced evidence of harassment spanning the entire duration of her employment at the fire department from 1992 to 1994 including her time spent in training in 1992, the period in which she worked in the Chief's office later that year, her year-long stay at Engine 5 in 1993, and finally, her seven months at Engine 13 in 1994.…

    • 423 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Apa Study Notes

    • 314 Words
    • 2 Pages

    As discussed in the PUBH 6890 course study notes (“Effects on Health,” 2005), forest fires have caused lasting damage to firefighters’ lungs.…

    • 314 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    92' L.A. Riots

    • 4879 Words
    • 20 Pages

    Lou Cannon, "Los Angeles and the worst riots of modern times". Unknown. Pages 1-5, 5/Jun/2005. http://www.worldfreeinternet.net/news/nws75.htm…

    • 4879 Words
    • 20 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Burbank chose to resign. There is a zero policy for sexual harassment and the mayor od Salt Lake City, made sure that rule was enforced. According to the second article. The High Council for Equality between Women and Men sent the report to France's Health Minister asking for the issue to be addressed quickly. It added a number of measures for how France could address the issue, including education programs to let women know how to identify harassment, and how to react if they are a victim. It also suggested other measures like letting bus drivers stop at undesignated stops along the route to allow women to get off closer to home, and printing the number for a complaint hotline on transport tickets. Both of these stories have come out with a…

    • 416 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Baker, Carrie N. “Race, Class, and Sexual Harassment in the 1970s.” Feminist Studies, Spring 2004, Vol. 30 Issue 1; EBSCOhost: Ashford Univ. Library…

    • 3788 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Day, T. (1995). The health-related costs of violence against women in Canada: The tip of the…

    • 5503 Words
    • 23 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics