Knoll v. City of Los Angeles

GIBSON, C. J.

— Petitioner brought this proceeding in mandamus to compel her recognition as a member of the Los Angeles Fire Department, entitled to share in the benefits and privileges of its pension system. The writ was denied

[397]

after a hearing on the merits, and petitioner thereafter appealed from the judgment.

The issues presented here are similar to those determined in

McKeag

v.

Board of Pension Commrs., ante,

p. 386 [132 P.2d 198] (this day decided) and

Haas

v.

City of Los Angeles, ante,

p. 393 [132 P.2d 201] (this day decided). Petitioner is entitled to share in the pension plan under the provisions of the Los Angeles charter if she is a person “duly and regularly appointed in the Fire Department under civil service rules and regulations whose duty it is to prevent or extinguish fires in the City of Los Angeles. ...” (§ 185)

and who has served for the requisite number of years (§ 181). There is no dispute as to the nature or duration of petitioner’s employment or the fact that she served under civil service rules. The trial court found, and its finding is not challenged, that “the duties which plaintiff has performed, and does now regularly perform, as an employee of said Fire Department, are, in part, as follows: The duty of keeping a full and complete record of all fires with full data of such fires which occur in the City of Los Angeles, and to give out information and reports of such fires to the various bureaus and fire department officials when such information and reports áre necessary; to maintain tables and analyses of fires; to render a daily report to the Fire Prevention Bureau showing the location of fires, the inspection district in which fires have occurred, the nature of such fires, the estimated loss because of such fires, and the cause of such fires. Preparing and submitting reports to the Chief Engineer and the Honorable Board of Fire Commissioners showing fire losses, causes of fires, location and type of buildings in which fires have occurred. The preparing and submitting,, to the Chief Engineer of the Fire Department statistical data, schedules, tables and analyses of the cause of fires and fire alarms, source of fires, analyses of fire alarms as to the type of construction and number of buildings damaged by fire, analyses of fire alarms relative to the spread and extent of damage to buildings by fire, classification of fire losses in the different type of buildings, and analyses of the various methods of fire extinguishing, and to furnish data, prepare tables, analyses and reports whenever necessary, and such other duties as may be assigned to her within the scope of her ability and civil service status.”