Leili

Appellant appeals from the denial of his petition for a writ of mandate in the superior court. He sought by that writ an order compelling the County of Los Angeles to provide him with salary benefits from November 1977 to September 1980, pursuant to a Los Angeles County ordinance. We have concluded that the trial court erred in denying appellant’s writ petition and therefore reverse the judgment appealed from.

In 1969, appellant began work as a firefighter for the County of Los Angeles. In 1973 and in 1974, he sustained work related back injuries. In 1975, he applied for workers’ compensation benefits, which were granted. The workers’ compensation judge concluded that appellant had lost approximately one-fourth of his capacity for bending, lifting, etc., and restricted him to “no very heavy work.”

In August 1976, appellant received a letter from the county fire department informing him that the work restrictions were incompatible with the arduous duties of his job and that he had, therefore, the following options:

Appellant was taken otf active duty, and in November 1977, he applied for service-connected disability retirement. In November 1978, the County of Los…