Fleishman-Hillard last week agreed to pay the city of Los Angeles $5.7 million to settle a lawsuit claiming that the PR firm had defrauded several city agencies by inflating their monthly bills.
The bulk of the cash reportedly will go to L.A.'s Department of Water and Power, which claimed the agency double charged, billed for work that wasn't done and then padded hours for work that was done. Richard Kline, Fleishman's general manager in
Los Angeles, says the company has apologized and is now trying to move on.