Arson investigator sues L.A., says she was sidelined, shamed

A woman in a firefighter's uniform stands before a red firetruck

Aug. 21, 2024 5 AM PT

A Black female arson investigator is suing the city of Los Angeles for discrimination, retaliation and a “hostile work environment,” and she says the Los Angeles Fire Department did nothing to stop her harassment.

Afara Lalaind, who filed her civil complaint Thursday at Stanley Mosk Courthouse in downtown L.A., also alleges her reputation “has been ruined” and her chance for advancement is gone.

She’s seeking damages of more than $25,000, including for loss of earnings and employee benefits and the anxiety and anguish she says she has suffered.

Calls and emails to Lalaind’s lawyer and to the Los Angeles city attorney’s office were not immediately returned.

Lalaind, a 39-year-old Bay Area native, is a Los Angeles Fire Department arson investigator and one of the first two female board members for the Los Angeles County Stentorians, an association of African Americans in the fire service.

Lalaind served as a firefighter-paramedic for six years with the LAFD before requesting to be transferred to Fire Station No. 57 in South Los Angeles in early 2022, according to the lawsuit.

She was the only female firefighter at the station and “hoped that she would be welcomed and treated respectfully,” according to the lawsuit.

On her first day, however, she was instructed by the station’s captain, Michael Boutte, to work a three-person fire engine operation by herself while the rest of the station observed, according to the lawsuit. Lalaind also claims she didn’t receive keys or standard operating guidelines that day, as is customary for new employees.

The lawsuit alleges Boutte “was suffering from some form of gender bias” and treated Lalaind differently than her male counterparts.

Lalaind alleges that Boutte attempted to prevent her from seeking another position at Fire Station No. 57 within months of her arrival, instead favoring a temporary employee.

Lalaind eventually wrote to a fire chief about the position, leading Boutte to accuse her of “going over his head,” the lawsuit alleges.

In April 2022, Boutte filed a complaint against Lalaind for allegedly “being discourteous to a member of the public” at a grocery store and purchasing alcohol on duty for cooking, according to the lawsuit. Lalaind claimed in the lawsuit that she was owed progressive discipline before a formal complaint was filed.

Lalaind said in May that she was publicly scolded by a fire chief for “causing problems” at the fire station. She responded by reporting the “hostile work environment” created by Boutte to two fire chiefs. Neither investigated her claims nor took any sort of action, according to the lawsuit.

From late May to June 2022, Lalaind said she traded shifts “due to the unbearable stress and anxiety caused by working alongside Captain Boutte,” the suit says.

In August, Lalaind filed a formal complaint against Boutte, accusing him of creating a hostile work environment based on her gender.

Again, Lalaind claimed the department did not properly vet her claims and allowed Boutte to “intimidate witnesses.”

In October, the fire captain filed another complaint against Lalaind over timekeeping issues and failure to follow an order, the lawsuit alleges.

Lalaind said she received a brief reprieve in October when she was temporarily transferred to Fire Station No. 46 near the South Figueroa Corridor. She was told there, however, that she was restricted to certain fire equipment and vehicles and was not given an explanation, according to the lawsuit.

That month, the suit says, she was placed on a performance improvement plan that was only rescinded in February 2023 due to a letter from the Stentorians regarding Lalaind’s treatment.

A pivotal moment happened in July 2023, when Lalaind claims that another fire captain, Brandon Taulli, conducted an “illegal search” of her car, according to the lawsuit. Taulli alleged Lalaind improperly stored a firearm.

Later that month, Lalaind and a group of other firefighters were subject to firearm storage training, “further shaming” her.

Taulli subsequently filed his own lawsuit against the city, claiming retaliation, discrimination and damages as a result of the incident. He says in the suit that ever since the search and his filing of a report, he’s been “harassed, discriminated against and retaliated against” by Lalaind and the Fire Department.

Taulli said that “false and malicious statements” had been made against him regarding an “illegal vehicle search, theft, blackmail, extortion, racism and sexism.”

Lalaind and Taulli are pursuing jury trials.