Fire Chief William Bamattre should be ousted for failing to curb hazing and discrimination in his department, two city officials and the head of the firefighters union said.

"What we have is a Fire Department that fosters bullying from the top down—and that is a management-caused problem," outgoing United Firefighters of Los Angeles President Pat McOsker said Monday.

"The bottom line is: We have a Fire Department that has allowed this for 10 years, and we've had the same leadership for 10 years," he said.

In the past several weeks, the City Council has approved spending nearly $1 million to settle firefighter lawsuits alleging age, race or sex discrimination. A dozen more suits and claims are pending.

On Tuesday, the council was scheduled to decide whether to override Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's veto of a $2.7-million discrimination lawsuit settlement to a black firefighter.

Tennie Pierce said other firefighters fed him dog food at a Westchester fire station two years ago. A departmental investigation suggested the prank was prompted by Pierce's reference to himself as the "Big Dog."

Villaraigosa vetoed the settlement last week after photographs surfaced that showed Pierce engaging in pranks with other firefighters.

On Monday, Bamattre appeared at a City Council hearing on problems within the 3,900-member department.

Bamattre, who was brought in as chief in 1995 with an agenda to eliminate discrimination, told the council that progress was being made and he should be the one to continue it before his planned retirement in February 2008.

"I've heard a lot of people calling for my head," Bamattre said. "There is no other person who can come in and implement these changes better than I."

Jack Weiss, who chairs the council's Public Safety Committee, said he was dissatisfied with the chief's explanations.

The chief "stated perfunctorily that 'I take responsibility' and then told us the principal reason for these enduring problems is his inability to fire firefighters" because of City Charter restrictions, Weiss said. "That's a cop-out."

City Controller Laura Chick cited an audit she released in January. It concluded that discrimination, hazing and harassment persisted in the Fire Department despite a zero-tolerance policy.

"I have lost faith and hope that this current leadership of the department can make the changes necessary," Chick said after the hearing. "The current management should be out."

Only the mayor could fire Bamattre. His office issued a statement Monday that did not specifically address the issue but said problems "are compelling and demand immediate attention."

"The mayor believes that we need to fundamentally change the culture at the Fire Department," spokesperson Matt Szabo said. (AP)

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