City Council approves roughly $4.08 million in settlements, advances City Attorney recommendation in Purdue Pharma case

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday approved a set of settlements totaling about $4,075,000 and advanced the City Attorney's recommendations in the city's case involving Purdue Pharma.

Budget and Finance Committee Chair Councilmember Zev Yaroslavsky told the council the committee had considered and approved items 27 through 36 at its Sept. 2 meeting and recommended council approval. "I recommend we approve these items," Yaroslavsky said as the items were read into the record.

Those approved for payment included a recommendation to expend up to $150,000 in the case captioned David Kelleher v. William McMoran et al.; up to $200,000 in Kevin Jinx v. City of Los Angeles; up to $200,000 in Nasrat Zinnati v. City of Los Angeles; up to $225,000 in Robert Papazian Jr. v. City of Los Angeles; up to $250,000 in Adrian Tripp et al. v. City of Los Angeles; and up to $1,800,000 in John Castellano v. City of Los Angeles. The council also approved expenditures of up to $300,000 and $950,000 in two other matters read into the record.

The council rejected an offer in the matter Angela Sandy Betancourt v. City of Los Angeles as listed by the clerk. The council also approved the City Attorney's recommendations in the consolidated case listed as City of Los Angeles v. Purdue Pharma LP et al.; the transcript record indicates the council approved the City Attorney's recommendations but does not list a payment amount in the oral record read into the minutes.

The roll call on the closed-session-derived items was recorded as 14 "ayes." Councilmember Curren Price recused himself earlier in the meeting from item 26 because he said he is a landlord; that recusal was noted on the record prior to votes on the closed-session items.

The Budget and Finance chair read the recommendation summaries into the public record before the council opened the roll and approved the items.

The council also granted a request for one of the items (item 34) to go "forthwith," meaning it was moved forward for immediate consideration. Separately in the meeting the council continued item 24 to the following day, Sept. 10, at a member's request.

Because these approvals come from settlement recommendations made after legal review, the payments will be processed consistent with the City Attorney's and Finance Department's usual procedures. The oral record read into the minutes did not specify which city department will ultimately disburse each payment or the precise timing of funds transfer.

The council's approval of these settlements finalizes the items that were recommended by the Budget and Finance Committee and recorded on the council's agenda for the day. The full filed minutes and the City Attorney's written recommendations will contain the detailed settlement memoranda and any conditions attached to payment.