Vox Explains that Donald Sterling was accused of housing discrimination as well as all that NBA stuff, with the reported parts of fines and settlements in the millions. One described as “one of the largest ever discriminatory housing case.” If you had doubts on the authenticity of the claims, this story seems to put an end to them.
Housing discrimination
In 2004, Sterling was sued by the Los Angeles Housing Rights Center for discriminatory rental practices. After buying the Ardmore Apartments complex, he attempted to force out minority tenants by refusing to do repairs and refusing rent checks, then accusing them of nonpayment. When told that a 66-year-old, legally blind, partially paralyzed tenant named Kandynce Jones wanted to be reimbursed for the damage to her flooded apartment, he reportedly said, “Just evict the bitch.”
The case brought by the Housing Rights Center was eventually settled for an undisclosed sum. The plaintiffs were reimbursed $4.9 million for their legal fees, and the judge described the total judgement as one of the largest ever in a discriminatory housing case.
In 2006, Sterling was sued by the Department of Justice after he allegedly refused to rent to Mexican-Americans and African-Americans in his apartment complexes, reportedly saying that “Black tenants smell and attract vermin.” Sterling paid $2.73 million to settle the suit.