A judge has ordered mediation in a lawsuit filed by a veteran Los Angeles fire battalion chief who alleges that the department retaliated against him when he spoke out about two minority probationary captains not getting the same work performance improvement opportunities as did a white colleague.

Michael Castillo’s Los Angeles Superior Court whistleblower retaliation suit seeks unspecified damages. On Monday, Judge Jerrold Abeles directed the parties to engage with a mediation volunteer panel administered by the court’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Office. The mediation is to be completed by Nov. 16.

In their previous court papers, lawyers for the City Attorney’s Office denied Castillo’s allegations, said they are barred by the statute of limitations and that any decisions made regarding him were done for “legitimate, non-discriminatory, non-pretextual reasons.”

According to Castillo’s suit, the battalion chief was hired in 1983 and was promoted to battalion chief in 2014. Four years later, then-Assistant Chief John Drake told Castillo that he was lucky because without a Latino last name he would not have been elevated to battalion chief, a remark Castillo found offensive, the suit states.

By 2022 Drake had become a chief deputy and that same year, Castillo was assigned to oversee three probationary captains, one Black, one Latino and one white, all who were struggling while on probation, the suit states.

Drake and then-Fire Chief Kristin Crowley placed the white...

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