LOS ANGELES : Fire Department Asked to Delay Bias Probe by Council

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday passed a motion requesting that the Fire Department delay any internal investigations of bias allegations until the council’s Personnel Committee completes its own closed-door inquiry into the matter.

The motion, sponsored by Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, also requests that Chief Donald O. Manning order all members of his department to cooperate fully with the committee’s probe.

Among other things, the Personnel Committee is investigating whether fire officials engaged in a cover-up of an internal probe of alleged sexual discrimination at the 1993 Fire Academy. The investigation found that there was no wrongdoing, even though several firefighters reported that members of the academy’s training staff made sexist statements about female recruits and drilled them harder than male trainees.

Manning was among the fire officials expected to testify under oath when the committee resumes its investigation today. However, he is unlikely to attend because he is off duty with a back injury.