TopVerdict Names McNicholas & McNicholas’ $3M Judgment Against City of Los Angeles to Top 50 Labor & Employment Settlements in California for 2022
McNicholas & McNicholas’ $3 million settlement against the City of Los Angeles on behalf of six firefighters who were retaliated against after blowing the whistle on the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) was ranked among TopVerdict’s Top 50 Labor & Employment Settlements in California for 2022.
In Carpenter, et al. v. City of Los Angeles, et al., the Plaintiffs reported up the chain of command that they believed the LAFD was: (1) sending unqualified, untrained, and unsupervised inspectors to inspect public facilities; (2) engaging in rushed inspections; and (3) failing to complete inspections and/or not following various codes and regulations, all of which misled the public into believing the buildings were safe and put lives in danger. The Plaintiffs identified that they believed that newly minted inspectors produced incomplete and inaccurate fire inspection reports which were “signed-off” by individuals at the LAFD’s Fire Prevention Bureau when the reports should have been rejected. These inspections were part of then Fire Marshal John Vidovich’s “Operation Catch-Up” program, which was implemented when it was revealed the LAFD had thousands of overdue inspections.
Despite engaging in a Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) protected activity when speaking out against the misconduct and safety concerns of “Operation Catch-Up,” the firefighters were subjected to demotions, made the targets of baseless investigations, threatened with discipline and loss of pay, and other retaliatory actions.
Partner Matthew McNicholas represented the Plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
View the full TopVerdict Top 50 Labor & Employment Settlements 2022 list here.
With more than 25 years’ experience as a trial lawyer, Partner Patrick McNicholas exclusively represents victims in personal injury, product liability, sexual assault and other consumer-oriented matters, such as civil rights, aviation disasters and class actions. Learn more about his professional background here.