"The Secret Ingredient Is Love." :)
Posted on 11/30/2006 11:30:57 PM PST by Omega Man II
Veto upheld in $2.7 million dog food prank settlement
By KERRY CAVANAUGH
Los Angeles Daily News
LOS ANGELES — Just three weeks after its near-unanimous approval of a $2.7 million settlement, the Los Angeles City Council reversed itself Wednesday and upheld a mayoral veto of the payoff to a black firefighter whose colleagues slipped dog food into his spaghetti as a prank.
The council voted 9-6 to back Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's veto of the settlement with firefighter Tennie Pierce. Although the council action does not preclude City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo from conducting further settlement talks, for now the case is headed for court.
"All I have to say is that I look forward to trying the case," said Genie Harrison, Pierce's attorney.
On Nov. 8, the council went along with Delgadillo's advice and agreed 11-1 to settle the racial discrimination lawsuit.
The case turned a spotlight on the hazing that still exist in firehouses more than a decade after the city's fire department adopted a zero-tolerance policy for bad behavior.
It became a lightning rod for criticism because of the size of the proposed settlement — it would have been the largest in the department's history — and charge of racial discrimination.
The council's three African-American members all supported the settlement. But some council members and firefighters criticized Pierce for playing "the race card" in what they believed was simply a bad practical joke. Critics deluged Delgadillo and the council with cans of dog food in protest.
The settlement was vetoed by Villaraigosa after pictures surfaced of Pierce himself engaging in a series of fire station pranks.
Pierce, who made a tearful plea before the City Council Tuesday, admitted engaging in pranks but said they were done out of "love."
Me thinks this firefighter barks too much.
This firefighter was perfectly happy to dish it out, but when he got on the receiving end he played the race card.
A friend and I made filled a picnic basket with goodies. We threw in a bag of potato chips, a couple of hardboiled eggs, some carrot sticks, a six pack of Coors (the loss from which took my father years to recover), and four sandwiches made from Strongheart dog food.
We hopped on our little bikes, peddled down to the school and presented our offering to the stalwart defenders of public property. We apologized because, given the lateness of the hour and the ingredients at hand, the best we could come up with was liverwurst. Nevertheless, we, at least, appreciated their safeguarding public property and hoped this meal, as inadequate as it was, would assist them in their endeavors.
I will never forget the smile on their faces as they punched a couple of holes in the beer cans with the included church key, and then gratefully wolfed down the food (pun intended).
It was a fond memory -- until I read your post and found out a person can get sued for such things.
"The Secret Ingredient Is Love." :)
A tearfull plea for his pay-off?
LOL. what was he tearfull for? What a whiner. he thought he had hit the jackpot and he came up empty. Great.
Hey at least the firefighter didn't get called the N-word, right Revvum Jesse?
I had a fraternity brother whose nickname was the "Squirrel." The Squirrel worked out all the time, had a fantastic physique, metabolized about 5,000 calories a day, and posssessed the greatest, most uncritical appetite my other fraterninty brothers and I had ever seen.
One summer the Squirrel atended summer school along with another brother ninknamed "Bucky." The people who make Gaines dog food had just come out with Gainesburgers for dogs. The temptation was just too much for Bucky, who cooked up a Gainesburger and offered it to the Squirrel, saying, "Hey, Squirrel, do you want a hamburger." As soon as Bucky said it, the Squirrel ate it and said how much he liked it. Bucky offered him anonther one and the Squirrel ate that one too. Then Buicky told him they were Gainesburgers.
Actually, Milkbone dog biscuits do taste fairly good.
Should have been called the "R" word (Rover).
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