Firefighter Settles for $1.5M in Dog Food Case

An LA firefighter who sued over a meal mixed with dog food has settled with the city for $1.5 million, the Los Angeles Times reports. Fire officials called the dog food incident a prank, but Pierce alleged racism. The city offered $2.7million last year, but Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa vetoed the amount and forced the last fire chief to retire.

In settling, the city avoids a trial that might have made public a history of discrimination cases—and cost the city millions more. Claims of race and gender bias ravaged the department this year and cost a total of $13.5 million. One councilman is baffled by legal fees billed for the Pierce case: "What did they do for $1.3 million? They didn't go to trial." (More Tennie Pierce stories.)