Divided Council Agrees to Pay Settlement to Fired Officer

A divided Los Angeles City Council voted Friday to pay fired police Sgt. Roger M. “Hoot” Gibson the rest of the $631,000 he is owed from a years-old legal settlement approved by a federal judge.

Lawmakers had balked this week on following the judge’s order, noting that Gibson was fired 14 years ago for insubordination and accused of everything from having sex on his shift to running a burglary ring of cops. But the city attorney’s office said there was no other choice because it had let the deadline for filing appeals pass.

A jury in 1988 granted Gibson nearly $3 million, saying his rights had been trampled during internal investigations, but a judge later reduced the award. The council had already paid $205,000.

Despite the city attorney’s insistence that the council had no choice but to pay the award, council members Jackie Goldberg, Mark Ridley-Thomas and Rita Walters still voted “no” Friday. Councilman Richard Alatorre cast the tiebreaking vote.