LA Clippers owner agrees to pay $2.73 million

By ROBERT JABLON
Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles Clippers owner and real estate
mogul Donald Sterling has agreed to pay a record $2.73 million
to settle allegations by the government that he refused to rent
apartments to Hispanics, blacks and to families with children,
the Justice Department announced Tuesday.

The Justice Department sued Sterling in August 2006 for
allegations of housing discrimination in the Koreatown area of
Los Angeles. Other defendants were Sterling’s wife, Rochelle,
and the Sterling Family Trust.

The defendants allegedly made statements to employees indicating
that African-Americans and Hispanics were not desirable tenants.

Court filings indicated that Sterling rented to fewer blacks and
Hispanics in Koreatown than would be expected based on
demographics, according to the Justice Department.

In settling the lawsuit, however, the defendants denied any
liability.

Robert Platt, an attorney for Sterling and the trust, issued a
statement saying his clients denied any acts of discrimination.

“The fair housing attorneys could not identify a single
individual who was wrongfully denied the right to rent an
apartment,” he said. The trust has a zero-tolerance policy
regarding housing discrimination, he said.

However, insurers for the trust decided it was cheaper to settle
the case than to keep fighting, Platt said. Those insurers will
cover the settlement.

Sterling manages 119 apartment buildings with more than 5,000
apartment units in Los Angeles County.

“Housing is a basic human need, and yet decades after passage of
the Fair Housing Act, far too many still encounter barriers like
discrimination,” said Thomas Perez, assistant attorney general
for the civil rights division.

“The magnitude of this settlement should send a message to all
landlords that we will vigorously pursue violations of the Fair
Housing Act,” he said.

The settlement, which will be considered by a Los Angeles
federal judge, also covers two related lawsuits by former
tenants at one of the Sterling properties. In those cases, a
black family and an interracial family with children contended
that private yards that had been part of their apartment were
demolished because of their race, the Justice Department said.

Under the settlement, Sterling and the other defendants would
pay a $100,000 civil penalty to the government and would pay
$2.63 million into a fund to pay monetary damages to tenants who
were harmed.

The Justice Department’s previous record settlement for
discrimination in the area of rental housing was $2.2 million in
a 1996 case.

Four years ago, Sterling agreed to pay an undisclosed sum and
nearly $5 million in attorney fees to settle an unrelated 2003
lawsuit that claimed he tried to drive non-Korean tenants out of
apartments he bought in Koreatown. The lawsuit was brought by
the nonprofit Housing Rights Center and 18 other plaintiffs.

That ruling came two weeks after a jury found in Sterling’s
favor in a lawsuit filed by a former property manager, Sumner
Davenport, who claimed he sexually harassed her. Davenport also
alleged that Sterling’s companies had racially prejudiced
employment and housing practices.

Sterling, the Clippers and the NBA are being sued by former
Clippers general manager Elgin Baylor, who claims he was forced
out of his job a year ago by age and racial discrimination. The
team said he resigned. Baylor, a 75-year-old Hall of Fame player
who is black, was the team’s GM for 22 years.

Sterling is best known for presiding over the Clippers, who won
just 19 games last season and have had two winning seasons in
the last 30 years.

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