The suspended president of the Los Angeles firefighters’ union has filed a lawsuit against Mayor Karen Bass and the city of Los Angeles, claiming the mayor launched the “campaign of retaliation” against him because he spoke out against her decisions, including the termination of then-LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley.

Freddy Escobar was removed from his position with the LAFD firefighters union in 2025 after a forensic audit found hundreds of thousands of dollars in union spending lacked documentation.

When the International Association of Fire Fighters, the parent union to the LAFD union, suspended Escobar, it said audits between 2018 and 2024 showed Escobar made over 1,300 credit card transactions totaling more than $230,000 without documentation.

Escobar does not mention the credit card misuse allegations in the lawsuit, but he protests the allegations that he received excessive overtime payouts, saying his overtime was “ordinary and fully consistent with department policy in a chronically understaffed agency.”

“The directive from the Mayor’s Office was carefully crafted and designed to portray Escobar’s overtime earnings as potentially corrupt and undermine his credibility as a union leader,” the lawsuit said.

The 36-year veteran with the LAFD alleges Mayor Bass used her influence and orchestrated a “public smear campaign against him because he repeatedly — and publicly — discussed the staffing shortage issue within the LAFD and protested the firing of Crowley.

Escobar claims shortly before Crowley was fired, Bass summoned Escobar to her city hall officer on Jan. 10, 2025 to discuss “Crowley’s fate.” During the one-on-one meeting, Bass reprimanded him for making public statements about the LAFD’s underfunding.

“(The) Mayor demanded to know, “When are you going to stop?” — a question that Escobar took to be a demand
and not-so-subtle warning to him and UFLAC that they cease their advocacy to remedy the chronic nderfunding of the fire department,” the complaint said.

Escobar claims in the lawsuit that the actions by Bass and city officials violated his rights to free speech, damaged his professional reputation and caused emotional harm. He is seeking compensatory damages, including loss of earnings and attorney fees.

NBC Los Angeles has reached out to Mayor Bass’ office.