LOS ANGELES, Oct 2, 2007 (AFP) - A former Los Angeles firefighter who said his co-workers were racist and even once fed him dog food was awarded 1.43 million dollars as part of a discrimination settlement, officials said Tuesday.

The Los Angeles City Council also voted to grant Tennie Pierce, a 19-year fire department veteran, 60,000 dollars in back pay, making him eligible for pension benefits.

HELSINKI, Sept 17, 2007 (AFP) - A Lutheran pastor in Finland opposed to the ordaining of female ministers was charged on Monday with discrimination for refusing to officiate a religious service with a woman pastor, officials said.

Ari Norro, a member of a conservative branch of the Lutheran Church of Finland, was charged with discrimination.

It is the first time a pastor has been charged for refusing to collaborate with a woman, 21 years after the Church of Finland allowed women to become pastors.

LOS ANGELES, Aug 20, 2007 (AFP) - Las Vegas's iconic Caesars Palace resort casino will pay 850,000 dollars to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency said Monday.

The EEOC alleged in a suit filed in April 2005 that several mainly Hispanic women working in the resort's kitchen were the victims of 'repeated and sometimes severe' sexual harassment, a statement said.