The Brief

The city of Los Angeles has reached a deal with firefighters and paramedics to pay up to $9.5 million to settle a legal dispute about unpaid overtime from 2020 to 2024.

That money comes on top of $1.2 billion in overtime already paid out to fire department employees over those same four years, according to an LAist analysis of city payroll data. The settlement was approved by L.A. Mayor Karen Bass on March 3 and now goes to a U.S. District Court judge for final approval, scheduled for next month.

The lawsuit, and the city’s decision to settle it at a time of dire warnings about the state of city finances, underscores ongoing tension over the size of a department serving more than 4 million people who live and work in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) — about 9% of the city workforce in 2024 — accounted for about 38% of all overtime paid out to city workers last year.

About 8% of firefighters received as much in overtime pay as regular pay in 2024, according to LAist's city payroll data analysis.

Critics, including the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, say the massive amount of overtime is evidence that LAFD is understaffed.

The lawsuit claims that the fire department required employees for years to work unpaid overtime hours, totaling $14.3 million. In all, plaintiffs sought up to $28.6 million in overtime and damages.

The January wildfires brought national attention to the LAFD, and firefighters and paramedics say they are finally seeing movement on fixing chronic payroll issues. Bass and the City Council approved adding 15 administrative positions at the fire department to help manage ongoing back-pay issues that are separate from the lawsuit. 

LAFD officials declined to comment on the lawsuit and settlement, saying they do not talk about pending litigation. Bass and the city attorney’s office also did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Firefighters spray flames from the Palisades Fire burning a business on January 8, 2025 in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles.

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Eric Thayer

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Getty Images

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Lawsuit's scope

Ultimately, about one third of LAFD personnel — more than 1,100 workers — signed on to the lawsuit filed by a veteran firefighter against the city in 2023.

Daniel Gonzalez, the lead plaintiff, said he grew up in a family of firefighters and has served 22 years at the LAFD as a firefighter and paramedic in some of the city’s busiest fire stations.

He now works as a paramedic at Fire Station 63 in Venice, where Gonzalez told LAist he runs between 10 and 15 advance-level emergency calls per shift, including responding to heart attacks, car accidents and other traumatic events.

Gonzalez and others who joined the lawsuit typically work 10 shifts per month, each lasting 24-hours.

On top of that, he said he usually picks up another four to six days of overtime, hours he said are needed to close staffing gaps.

LAist's analysis of payroll data shows that the LAFD has paid significantly more overtime per employee in recent years than any other city department.

Gonzalez told LAist he believes understaffing in the department has caused firefighters and paramedics to routinely work up to 1.5 hours beyond a normal 24-hour shift on most days. Gonzalez said the extra time is nowhere to be seen in his paycheck or in the paychecks of colleagues.

Gonzalez said understaffing issues have worsened in recent years causing unpaid overtime in the department to jump “from maybe once a month to almost every day.”

How LAFD shifts work

Firefighters work “a rotating series of three 24 hour shifts over a five day period, then have four days off.”

Or as the department has explained in the past:

ON - OFF - ON - OFF - ON - OFF - OFF - OFF - OFF (the cycle then repeats)

Department officials acknowledge that while 24-hour shifts start at 8 a.m., there is a long-standing practice of reporting at 6:30 a.m. ahead of that handoff. That represents the 1.5 hours over the 24-hour standard shift that’s at the center of the 2023 lawsuit.

LAFD staffing issues

A CNN analysis published in January following the fires found that the LAFD is “less staffed than almost any other major city,” with less than one firefighter per resident — half the ratio in Chicago, Dallas and Houston.

Daniel Gonzalez leans against an LAFD firetruck. Gonzalez has been a firefighter at the department for over two decades.

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Courtesy Daniel Gonzalez

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Gonzalez said he doesn’t mind working longer hours during emergencies, but the extended days have turned from a contingency measure into business-as-usual.

Gonzalez said many of his colleagues at the LAFD were hesitant to push for compensation for the extra hours they worked due to fear of retaliation. Union representatives told LAist they're not officially involved with the lawsuit, though members are.

Gonzalez said he experienced pressure first hand. In December 2022, he said he and another paramedic tried to only work the hours for which they were being paid. They were then called into their supervisor’s office, he said, and told that if they didn’t work the extra hours they would no longer be able to trade shifts with other paramedics.

Gonzalez and his lawyers told LAist they hope the settlement leads the LAFD to change their policy and pay employees for all the work they do moving forward.

“When a firefighter or paramedic is on duty,” Gonzalez said, “we can be in a situation where we're risking our lives. And if we're doing that for the citizens of L.A., we should be getting paid properly.”

Oshea Orchid, his attorney, told LAist the city could be looking at another lawsuit if policies don’t change.

Ongoing payroll technical difficulties

To fix separate overtime payroll problems, the city is paying out even more OT: Thirty administrative staff members from departments across the city were tapped in January to untangle recurring issues. Officials at the city’s Information Technology Agency reported that faulty software has caused payroll inaccuracies that need to be manually corrected. Another 15 new temporary positions have been approved by the city to help in the coming months.

At a city personnel committee meeting earlier this month, Rich Ramirez, a firefighter and spokesperson for the United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, said during the public comment period that “members are still owed money from years ago.”

He noted that additional payroll staff have made a difference, but said there are still major issues with pay, as well as sick days and vacation time.

Tim McOsker, the City Council member for District 15 and chair of the city’s personnel committee, told LAist that communication problems between two systems used by the fire department to organize scheduling and payroll have led to some paychecks not including the full amount of money employees earned.

McOsker said that when the committee began hearings on the issue in January, they started loaning personnel from other departments and authorizing new positions to correct previous underpayments. The City Council has also started looking into long-term solutions to fix the technical issues that caused the problem, but that may take a while, he said.

Sam Hinojosa, chief information officer for the fire department, told the personnel committee last week that it would take at least nine months to make the needed changes once they have been approved by the City Council.

McOsker said his committee and the whole City Council are working “to make sure that we fix these payroll issues as quickly as possible and remedy the past issues that we inherited when we came to this job.”

In an email to LAist, Ramirez, the union spokesperson, said the pay discrepancies have severely affected union members and their families, and that the union hopes the city will find a permanent solution.

LAFD officials did not provide comments about the underpayments or plans for next steps.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Since 1977, Richard Santillan has been to every Opening Day game at Dodger Stadium. 

“The tradition goes from my father, to me, to my children and grandchildren. Some of my best memories are with my father and children here at Dodger Stadium,” Santillan told The LA Local, smiling under the shade of palm trees near the entrance to the ballpark Wednesday morning. He was there to protest the team less than 24 hours before Opening Day.

Santillan, like countless other loyal Dodgers fans, is grappling with his fan identity over the team’s decision to accept an invitation to the White House and owner Mark Walter’s ties to ICE detention facilities.

More than 30 people joined Santillan on Wednesday morning for a press conference held near 1000 Vin Scully Drive to convey a message directly to the team. 

“We are demanding the Dodgers stop participating in funding of inhumane treatment of families and do not go to the White House to celebrate with the criminal in chief,” Evelyn Escatiola told the crowd. “Together, we have the power to make a change.”

Escatiola, a former dean of East Los Angeles College and longtime community organizer, urged fans to flex their economic power by “letting the Dodgers know that we do not support repression.”

Jorge “Coqui” Rodriguez, a lifelong Dodgers fan, spoke to the crowd and called on Dodgers ownership to divest from immigration detention centers owned and operated by GEO Group and CoreCivic.

Jorge Coqui H Rodriguez speaks at a press conference outside Dodger Stadium on March 25, 2026, to demand the Dodgers not to visit the White House following their 2025 World Series win.

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J.W. Hendricks

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The LA Local

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In a phone interview a day before the protest, Rodriguez told The LA Local he did not want the Dodgers using his “cheve” or beer money to fund detention centers. 

“They can’t take our parking money, our cacahuate money, our cheve money, our Dodger Dog money and invest those funds into corporations that are imprisoning people. It’s wrong,” Rodriguez said. 

Rodriguez considers the Dodgers one of the most racially diverse teams and said the players need to support fans at a time when heightened immigration enforcement has become more common across L.A.

The team’s 2025’s visit to the White House drew ire from the largely Latino fan base, citing the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on immigrants. 

In June, the team came under further scrutiny when rumors swirled online that federal immigration agents were using the stadium’s parking, which immigration authorities later denied in statements posted on social media accounts.

The team again came under fire after not releasing a statement on the impacts of ICE raids on its mostly Latino fan base at the height of immigration enforcement last summer. The team later agreed to invest $1 million to support families affected by immigration enforcement.

When he learned the Dodgers were pledging only $1 million to families in need, Rodriguez called the amount a  “slap in the face.” 

“These guys just bought the Lakers for billions of dollars and they give a million dollars to fight for legal services? That’s a joke,” Rodriguez said. “They need to have a moral backbone and not be investing in those companies.”

According to reporting from the Los Angeles Times, former Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershawsaid last week that he is looking forward to the trip.

“I went when President [Joe] Biden was in office. I’m going to go when President [Donald] Trump is in office,” Kershaw said. “To me, it’s just about getting to go to the White House. You don’t get that opportunity every day, so I’m excited to go.”

The Dodgers have yet to announce when their planned visit will take place. 

Santillan sometimes laments his decision to give up his season tickets in protest of the team. His connection to the stadium and the memories he has made there with family and friends will last a lifetime, he said. On Thursday, he will uphold his tradition and be there for the first pitch of the season, but with a heavy heart.

“It’s a family tradition, but the Dodgers have a lot of work to do,” he said.

A local favorite mom-and-pop bookshop in Eagle Rock is facing displacement due to a steep rent hike. The owners say theirs is just one of several small businesses along Eagle Rock Boulevard struggling to keep up with lease increases.

Over the past 19 years, many in the neighborhood have come to love READ Books for its eclectic collection of used titles and shop dog Florence.

Co-owner Jeremy Kaplan said it’s been a delight to grow with the community over the years.

“Like seeing kids come back in, who were in grade school and now they’re in college,” Kaplan said.

But the building where Kaplan and wife Debbie rent was recently sold, and the rent increased by more than 130% to $2,805 a month, Kaplan said. He told LAist it was an increase his small business simply could not absorb.

Kaplan said he originally was given 30 days notice of the rent increase. After some research, assistance from Councilmember Ysabel Jurado’s office and some pro-bono legal help, Kaplan said he pushed back and got the 90-day notice he’s afforded by state law.

California Senate Bill 1103 requires landlords to give businesses with five or less employees 90 days’ notice for rent increases exceeding 10%, among other protections.

Systems Real Estate, the property management company, did not immediately respond to LAist’s request for comment.

What can small businesses do? 

Nadia Segura, directing attorney of the Small Business Program at pro bono legal aid non-profit Bet Tzedek said California law does not currently allow for rent control for commercial tenancies.

Outside of the protections under SB 1103, Segura said small businesses like READ Books don’t have much other recourse. And even then, commercial landlords are not required to inform their tenants of their protections under the law.

“There’s still a lot of people that don’t know about SB 1103. And then it’s very sad that they tell them they have these rent increases and within a month they have to leave,” Segura said.

She said her group is seeing steep rent hikes like this for commercial tenants across the city.

“We are seeing this even more with the World Cup coming up, the Olympics coming up. And I will say it was very sad to see that also after the wildfires,” Segura said.

Part of Bet Tzedek’s ongoing work is to advocate for small businesses, working with landlords who are increasing rents to see if they are willing to give business owners longer leases that lock in rents.

What’s next 

After READ Books posted about their situation on social media, commenters chimed in to express their outrage and love for the little shop.

While he looks for a new spot, Kaplan says he’s forming a coalition of local businesses and activist groups to see what can be done to help other small businesses facing similar displacement. He wants to address the displacement issue for businesses like his, which have made Eagle Rock the distinctive neighborhood that it is today.

Owl Talk, a longtime Eagle Rock staple selling clothing and accessories in a unit in the same building as READ Books, is facing a “more than double” rent increase, according to a post on their Instagram account.

Kaplan said he’s been in touch with the office of state Assemblywoman Jessica Caloza and wants to explore the possibility of introducing legislation to set up protections for small businesses like his, including rent-control measures or a vacancy tax for landlords. Kaplan said he also reached out to the office of state Sen. Maria Durazo.

By his count, Kaplan said there are about a dozen businesses within surrounding blocks that are at risk of closing their doors or have shuttered due to rent increases or other struggles.

When READ Books was founded during the Great Recession, Kaplan said he knew it was a longshot to open a bookstore at the same time so many were struggling to stay in business.

“It was kind of interesting to be doing something that neighborhoods needed. That was important to me growing up, that was important to my children, that was important to my wife growing up,” Kaplan said.

“And then somebody comes in and says, ‘We’re gonna over double your rent.”

Topline:

Frozen budget: Most of the city’s Bureau of Street Lighting budget comes from an assessment that people who own property illuminated by lights pay on their county property tax bill. The amount people pay depends on the kind of property they own and how much they benefit from lighting. A typical single-family home currently pays $53 annually, and in total, the assessments bring in about $45 million annually for the city to repair and maintain streetlights. Changing the amount the Bureau of Street Lighting gets from the assessment requires a vote among property owners who benefit from the lights.

Ballots: L.A. City Council’s vote gives city staff the green light to prepare and send out those ballots. Miguel Sangalang, who oversees the bureau, said at a committee meeting earlier this month that he expects to send out ballots by April 17. Notices about the ballots will be sent out prior to the ballots themselves.

Near unanimous vote: L.A. City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez was the only “No” vote Tuesday, saying she wanted to see a more current strategic plan for the bureau. Sangalang said the bureau developed a plan in 2022 that lays out how money will be spent. Councilmember Imelda Padilla was absent for the vote.

Vote count: Votes will be weighted according to the assessment amount. Basically, the more you’re asked to pay yearly to maintain streetlights, the more your vote will count. Ballots received before June 2 will be tabulated by the L.A. City Clerk.

How much more money: According to a report, the amount needed in assessments from property owners to meet the repair and maintenance needs of the city’s streetlighting in the next fiscal year is nearly $112 million.

Use of the money: Sangalang said at a March 11 committee meeting that the extra funds would be used to double the number of staff to handle repairs and procure solar streetlights, which don’t face the threat of copper wire theft. That would all potentially reduce the time it takes to repair simple fixes down to a week. Currently, city residents wait for months to see broken streetlights repaired. The assessment would come with a three-year auditing mechanism.