The black eye for Fleishman-Hillard resulting from overbilling claims by the city of Los Angeles just won't go away.

Fleishman tried to bring the bad publicity to an end by paying the city $5.7 million and admitting that "some senior executives of the Los Angeles office, who are no longer with the firm, caused certain bills to be presented to the city that appear to be improper and indefensible."

But six months later, the headaches -- and headlines -- continue. The latest stem from former Fleishman exec Doug Dowie's battle to stay out of jail and to sue Fleishman for wrongful termination.

I've always found this case extremely annoying. While I can in no way excuse Fleishman's behavior, I am appalled by the lack of oversight by the L.A. Department of Water & Power and other city departments.

When I was on the corporate side, I looked carefully at the bill I got from the PR agency every month. I asked questions about things I wasn't sure about -- and not just big things. I'd call about a couple hundred dollars in long-distance phone calls if I wasn't sure what they were for.

Now that I have my own agency, I expect my clients to do the same.

That's what good managers are supposed to do. It's their responsibility. The municipal departments that got ripped off could have stopped it at any point with only basic scrutiny of the billing statements.

Grrrrr. Aggravating.