LAFD union president accuses Mayor Bass of 'retaliation' in wake of firestorm, files claim

This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.

After the Palisades fire broke out in January, the head of the powerful firefighters union, Freddy Escobar, quickly got on the news and continued to say what he always had: The Los Angeles Fire Department was underfunded.With millions around the world paying attention to the dire situation in Los Angeles, Escobar had a much larger audience than the month before, when he made the same points at a meeting before the city’s Board of Fire Commissioners.“The fire chief does not have the money to staff the resources that are needed,” Escobar told The Times on Jan.

10, three days after the fires started burning.“Unfortunately, everything was lined up to have a disaster.”But Escobar says now in an administrative claim against the city that his comments about the department — which he thought were protected speech from his position as the elected head of the United Firefighters of Los Angeles City — led to retaliatory action from Mayor Karen Bass.

The city has 45 days to respond to the claim before Escobar can file a lawsuit.The LAFD declined to comment on “union-related matters.” The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Escobar, a 30-year-veteran of the fire department, has run UFLAC since 2018.

Months after the fires he was suspended from his union position following an audit, which found that more than 70% of the transactions he made on his union credit card — worth $230,466 — had no supporting documentation.He also came under scrutiny from the media and the fire department after it was revealed that he made more than $500,000 in 2022 in union pay along with overtime firefighting work — about 78 hours of work per week.But Escobar said in his claim that the investigation into his overtime pay was calculated retaliation by the mayor’s office because of his criticism during the fires.The mayor summoned Escobar to City Hall on Ja...