A former Los Angeles fire marshal settled the lawsuit he filed against the city, alleging that Mayor Eric Garcetti and the firefighters’ union conspired to remove him from his job in 2016, court papers show.
Lawyers for plaintiff John N. Vidovich and the City Attorney’s Office told Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Joseph Kalin on Friday that the case was resolved. No terms were divulged.
Vidovich’s lawyer, Michael L. Turrill, could not be immediately reached for comment on the amount of the settlement and whether it is subject to City Council approval.
The suit was filed in January 2017 against the city and United Firefighters of Los Angeles. Vidovich, a longtime LAFD veteran, alleged that his August 2016 ouster was the result of a plan by the mayor’s office to unseat him in exchange for an endorsement by the firefighters’ union of Garcetti’s March 2017 reelection bid.
The union contributed $350,000 to the reelection campaigns of Garcetti and others, the suit stated.
Vidovich maintained the city’s fire inspection program was riddled with problems with extensive backlogs when he took the fire marshal job in 2014. He alleged inspectors falsified records and altered department data to prevent the inspection of some facilities, including the Veterans Administration hospital near Westwood.