LOS ANGELES - A black former Pasadena firefighter, who was awarded $1.17 million by a jury that found he was wrongfully forced into disability retirement, deserves $177,000 in attorneys' fees, a judge tentatively ruled.

However, after hearing arguments, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charles C. Lee took the motion under submission and said he would issue a final ruling in Carter Stephens' case within a few days.

A racially mixed jury of eight women and four men found on Dec. 28 that Stephens was fired for complaining about harassment and hazing by colleagues.

In his preliminary ruling, Lee cited the trial evidence in favor of the ex-firefighter. He also found that the Los Angeles resident is entitled to recover nearly $38,200 in associated legal costs, including deposition transcripts and fees for testimony by experts.

"(Stephens) made numerous complaints of mistreatment by colleagues over the years, as well as allegations of discrimination against colleagues and superiors, but the city did not investigate the charges to any degree," Lee wrote in his one-page tentative decision.

Lee also stated that one of Stephens' attorneys showed the jury a "very small file" that represented the city's files dealing with his complaints.

Stephens' lawyers had asked for about $275,000 in fees, which lawyers for the city argued were excessive.

On March 3, Lee is scheduled to hold a hearing on the city's motion for a new trial.

Stephens, who joined the department in 1987, filed his wrongful termination and discrimination suit in November 2006.

According to his court papers, supervisors and co-workers harassed Stephens by leaving blood, urine and feces on his bedding, putting mucous on his uniform and scrawling a swastika on his firefighter hood. He also claimed that he overheard another captain refer to him by the "N" word.

The Pasadena Fire and Police Retirement Board approved his disability retirement against his wishes in February 2005, citing a 2002 knee injury that, according to a city doctor's 2004 declaration, made him "unfit for duty" according to his court papers.

According to Buchsbaum, the finding was not supported by any facts and was used by the city as justification for getting rid of Stephens, whose own doctor had pronounced him fit to return to work the year after his injury.

Stephens testified at trial that he has worked low-paying jobs since retiring from the force, including a stint as a shoe salesman at Macy's.

Brent S. Buchsbaum, one of Stephens' lawyers, said after the trial that although Stephens was the victim of racial discrimination, the focus of his suit was on the retaliation he believed he suffered after complaining about the pranks and other actions against him.

Assistant City Attorney Hugh A. Halford said the verdict would be appealed. He contended during final arguments that the 55-year-old Stephens was out for cash, not justice.

Louis Ceballos, a 57-year-old nightclub disc jockey from Glendale, said he and his fellow jurors were not swayed by - and never talked about - news accounts of hazing and retaliation against other firefighters, including that of Tennie Pierce, who claimed his Los Angeles Fire Department colleagues fed him dog food.

Pierce sued the city of Los Angeles and later settled for $1.43 million. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa vetoed an earlier $2.7 million accord after seeing photographs of Pierce participating in hazing incidents himself.

Ceballos said that unlike Pierce, Stephens did not pull pranks on other firefighters.