LA is on the hook for more than half a billion in liability payouts in just 2 years. 4 of the costliest cases

The city of Los Angeles is on track to pay out at least $320 million this fiscal year to settle liability claims and lawsuits. That’s after more than $277 million in such payouts last fiscal year — both well over the $87 million city officials budgeted each year for such risks.

To put that into perspective:

• The nearly $600 million in payouts over the last two years is roughly equivalent to all spending by the city on homelessness services last fiscal year — about half of which the city sent to the L.A. Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), according to city controller spending data.
• And the cost each year is about the same as the financial toll of the recent wildfires to the city of L.A. through Feb. 14. That cost is $282 million, including damage to city structures and equipment, along with additional personnel costs for the fire and police departments, according to the city administrative officer.

Why is the price tag for payouts so high? LAist took a deeper look at some of the highest-cost incidents paid out in the past year.

Housing discrimination

Mei Ling, who was awarded $38 million, addresses media at a briefing downtown in 2017.

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Frederic J. Brown

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AFP via Getty Images

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The single largest liability payment, more than $38 million, settled long-standing discrimination claims by a Los Angeles resident who said she’d been denied affordable housing.

According to court documents, Mei Ling first filed a complaint in 2011. Ling’s claim said she was unable to work and used a wheelchair due to a spinal condition. She said she received a Section 8 housing voucher in 2007, but said in her claim that she’d been denied housing at multiple locations. As a result, she said she had to stay at homeless shelters and transitional housing for nearly three years. Then, in 2009, when she was provided an affordable housing unit, she claimed it was not fully wheelchair accessible.

The U.S. Department of Justice, then under President Barack Obama, brought Ling’s case to federal court in 2017, and a settlement was reached with the city in August 2024.

The Mei Ling v. City of Los Angeles complaint lays out the claims made against the city.

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https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4147597/mei-ling-v-city-of-los-angeles-california/

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LAist was not able to reach Ling or her attorneys for this story, and representatives for the city did not reply to requests for comment. At the time the city agreed to settle the case, City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto issued a statement to news outlets denying city officials had violated the law. She also said the outcome was welcome, because the city’s potential liability was much higher.

Some cases leave lasting damage

In an incident report, a police detective driving an unmarked vehicle claimed she did not see Hernandez crossing the street. Boxes for use of a hands-free cellphone and "inattention" are both checked for the detective.

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Courtesy Richard Rohde

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Two years ago, Roger Hernandez was on his motorized wheelchair getting ready to cross Spring Street in downtown L.A. He later told officers that because the "don't walk" sign already was counting down, he decided to wait for the next cycle of the light, according to a redacted traffic crash report made available online at Muckrock.com.

Officers reported that Hernandez told them he was always careful not to rush into the street, making sure he had enough time to get safely through the crosswalk.

After seeing the crossing signal flash back on, he told officers that he checked for traffic and entered the crosswalk. He reported being halfway through the intersection when he saw an oncoming vehicle, later identified as an unmarked police vehicle, that wasn’t slowing down. With no way to move out of its path, Hernandez was struck and thrown to the ground, his wheelchair mangled.

The incident report mentioned above laid out details: A police detective driving the unmarked vehicle failed to yield and claimed she did not see Hernandez. Boxes for use of a hands-free cellphone and "inattention" are both checked for the detective.

Hernandez was taken to a hospital and treated for his injuries. According to his attorney, Hernandez lost mobility in the hand he used to operate his wheelchair and do all other daily tasks.

In 2024, Hernandez reached a $15 million settlement with the city, with payments made in April and July of 2024.

City officials and the LAPD did not respond to requests for comment on his case.

Use of force

Payouts to settle claims of excessive force by police officers was another significant factor in the high costs.

According to the city controller’s office, last year more than $50 million in payouts were related to civil rights violations and unlawful use of force by LAPD, the largest share of LAPD’s liability expenses.

One of these high-cost cases paid out more than $23.8 million to Tammy Murillo, the mother of a 32-year-old Navy veteran shot and killed by two LAPD officers on Dec. 23, 2017.

The officers were responding to a radio call for a “battery in progress,” according to a report by the office of former District Attorney Jackie Lacey, when they first saw Jesse Murillo outside his mother’s Canoga Park house wearing a gas mask and holding a hammer and a metal bar.

A photo of the scene is included in the L.A. County district attorney's account of the police killing of Jesse Murillo.

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L.A. County district attorney's office

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According to the D.A.’s account, Murillo “began sprinting toward” one of the officers who was stepping out of his police car, according to the report. The officer yelled for Murillo to stop. Three seconds later, the two officers fired their weapons a total of seven times at Murillo.

The county district attorney’s office concluded that the shooting was legal, citing self-defense and defense of others.

But after a civil trial, a jury found the city of Los Angeles and the two officers liable for excessive force and battery, civil rights violations and negligence.

Decaying infrastructure

Hazardous city infrastructure has also resulted in large payouts. In 2020, a two-pound metal piece of a light pole fell and seriously injured Ismael Soto Luna, 63, according to court documents.

According to Arash Zabetian, his attorney, Soto suffered a traumatic brain injury and now has severe dementia and is not able to care for himself in any way.

Zabetian told LAist that his firm discovered that many light poles near where the incident took place in Van Nuys had the same type of pieces fall to the ground, but the city had taken no action to keep the poles inspected or properly maintained.

A metal cap sits crookedly atop a streetlight pole in Van Nuys, near where a similar piece fell and injured Ismael Soto Luna.

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Photo courtesy of Arash Zabetian

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Zabetian says city departments can prevent incidents like what happened to Soto, and he sees the underlying issue as a culture among city departments where “proactivity is frowned upon.”

“You’re talking about decades and repeated opportunities to avoid [incidents like this].” Zabetian told LAist, “because regardless of these liabilities, Mr. Soto can never talk to his kids again. You see, these are real people’s lives.”

The city paid a total of $21 million to Soto last year — half in May and half in July 2024 — after a superior court jury found the city liable for leaving the streetlight in a dangerous condition. The jury also found that this risk was foreseeable by the city, and the city had enough time to protect against such an incident.

City officials did not reply to requests for comment on these claims.

Is this out of the norm?

The short answer is yes.

We talked to City Controller Kenneth Mejia last week when we first detailed the overall cost and trends. He told us that if current trends continue — decreases in revenue combined with overspending — the city may need to extend a hiring freeze, which could disrupt city services.

Additional notable cases

The following accounts of the city's largest liability payments over the last two fiscal years are based on court and federal documents. 

BD Impotex LLC v. City of Los Angeles — $20,000,000

A settlement was reached between the city and residents of South L.A. after the detonation of illegal fireworks by the LAPD bomb squad. The explosion injured 27 people, including 18 civilians, and caused severe damage to homes and vehicles, according to a federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives report, causing some residents to be displaced.

Paula French, et al. v. City of Los Angeles, et al. — $17,700,000

A district court jury found that the city was liable for use of excessive force by an LAPD officer that caused the death of a mentally disabled man outside of a Costco in Corona and severely injured his parents.

Ruben Martinez et al v. City of Los Angeles et al — $8,000,000

A settlement was reached between the city and Ruben Martinez after prosecutors agreed that Martinez was wrongfully imprisoned for 12 years for five robberies.

Malcolm Thomas v. City of Los Angeles, et al. — $7,885,000

A settlement was reached between the city and Malcolm Thomas after what he claims was discrimination based on disability and retaliation while he served as a police officer and instructor at the Los Angeles Police Academy.