A former top Los Angeles Building and Safety official who claims he was fired after alleging false billing and other misconduct will receive a $3 million settlement from the city.
Steve Ongele has sued the city, alleging whistleblower retaliation after he was fired from his job in 2019. For the previous six years, he had raised concerns about what he considered illegal and unethical practices in the Building and Safety Department, according to the lawsuit.
In response, city officials repeatedly reduced their duties and were eventually fired, according to the suit.
The City Council voted 12 to 0 on Wednesday to approve the $3 million settlement. Councilors Monica Rodriguez, Kevin de León and Curren Price were absent.
Ongele’s lawyer, Greg Smith, declined to comment. City Representative Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto did not immediately comment.
The $3 million settlement follows a series of scandals at the Department of Buildings and Safety. A one-time building inspector was sentenced to 2½ years in prison in 2014 following a federal investigation into bribery.
In 2018, several employees in the department’s technology services bureau resigned amid an internal investigation into unauthorized purchases and false invoices. The investigation also revealed that some employees were subjected to unusual punishment by their immediate supervisors, including eating an entire pizza in a short period of time, according to a personnel report prepared by the city.
Ongele served as the chief of the Bureau of Resources and Building Management and Security, overseeing contracts, purchase orders and expenses.
In 2017, he questioned a surplus of nearly $300 million as a result of the department overcharging customers, including the federal government, according to the lawsuit. General manager Frank Bush did not act, according to the lawsuit.
Bush, who has since left the department, previously denied Ongele’s claims.
A few years earlier, Ongele told the current chief executive, Raymond Chan, that the department was collecting more than it was spending. Studies should be conducted to ensure that the costs are justified and that the city is not breaking the law, Ongele said in the lawsuit.
In response, Chan raised his hands in the air and replied, “Arrest me,” according to the lawsuit.
Chan was found guilty this year in an unrelated federal criminal case involving former City Councilman Jose Huizar and a real estate developer in the city. Chan was sentenced last week to 12 years in prison for racketeering conspiracy, bribery, fraud and other charges.
Attorneys for Chan did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday about the claims in Ongele’s lawsuit.
Ongele, who joined the city in 2000, also alleges in his lawsuit that someone who is friends with Chan filed a claim for more than $160,000 in reimbursements for work he did on several buildings.
Ongele refused to approve the claim as it did not meet the requirements for refund. It was then approved by another building department executive, who told Ongele, “This is for Ray’s friends,” or words to that effect, according to the lawsuit.
In 2016, Chan served as deputy mayor for business development under Mayor Eric Garcetti. Chan then asked for money from the Building and Security Department to raise his staff as well as new furniture and computers for the mayor’s office.
The money was taken from special fund that means it is only used for activities related to building permits and reviewing plans, according to Ongele’s lawsuit.
The lawsuit also says that in 2016 Ongele learned that some employees in the building department had been paid illegal overtime over the years. Ongele reported the information to Bush and “confirmed that the employee returned the money,” according to the lawsuit.
Ongele complained to City Council representatives and Garcetti aides after he spoke and that his work duties were reduced, but nothing was done, the lawsuit says.
Meanwhile, Ongele was also placed under internal investigation in 2018 regarding purchases and invoices, according to the lawsuit.
When he tried to report the fraud, which amounted to about $4 million, to the city comptroller’s office, he was ordered by a supervisor to state that only $300,000 had been misappropriated, the lawsuit said.
In 2018, the LA County district attorney’s office also opened an investigation into the allegations. A spokeswoman for the district attorney did not immediately comment Wednesday on the status of the investigation.
