Award is too big

Re “L.A. fire captain receives $3.75 million from jury,” June 9

Wow! How can retaliation, described in the article as a “reprimand,” be worth $3.75 million (with $2.96 million included for “pain and suffering”)? With those inflated figures, what vast sum would be awarded for an actual physical injury instead of mere hurt feelings? Such an episode leads me to two conclusions. First, this current group of civil servants apparently has a collective psyche that is more fragile than that of Paris Hilton; second, high-paid private attorneys are no match for our inept city attorneys. Those guys are laughing all the way to the bank.

LANCE R. BOMMELJE

Torrance