Fired Los Angeles fire chief Kristin Crowley is suing the city for her ouster, claiming Mayor Karen Bass launched a smear campaign against her after the deadly wildfires earlier this year.
Crowley, whom Bass gave the axe in February for her allegedly bungled response to the Palisades Fire, accused the mayor of throwing her under the bus, her lawyers announced Wednesday.
“The claim sets out a pattern of dishonesty, scapegoating, and unlawful retaliation that destroyed the career of a 25-year public servant not because of any failure in her duties, but because she told the truth,” her legal team said in a press release.
Mayor Bass had accused Crowley of failing to mobilize around 1,000 spare firefighters after the blaze broke out, as well as failing to file an after-action report.
But Crowley says Bass was covering for her own choice to cut the Los Angeles Fire Department budget by $17 million — and punishing Crowley for calling attention to the problem.
“[Crowley] told City leadership and the public that Mayor Bass’ budget cuts and the City’s decades of neglect had left the LAFD underfunded, understaffed, and ill-equipped to handle the rising demands of a growing city, especially one at risk of dangerous wildfires,” wrote her attorneys, Genie Harrison and Mia Munro.
The suit alleges the Bass administration violated California labor laws and Crowley’s First Amendment rights.
It asks for unspecified damages exceeding $25,000.
The suit also flatly denies key accusations Bass leveled at Crowley in February: That she failed to conduct an after-action report, that she failed to deploy 1,000 spare firefighters and 40 spare firetrucks, and that she failed to notify the mayor of dangerous weather conditions.
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