In February 2003, the Housing Rights Center of Los Angeles filed a housing discrimination case against Sterling on behalf of 18 tenants. The lawsuit featured several racist statements allegedly made by Sterling to employees, such as that "black people smell and attract vermin" and "hispanics just smoke and hang around the building" as well as Sterling's alleged intent to rent only to Korean tenants because "they will pay the rent and live in whatever conditions I give them". Part of the HRC case's resolution included U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer awarding the plaintiffs' attorney $4.9 million in attorneys fees. While the final terms for the plaintiffs were confidential, the judge said the fees were justified as the settlement obtained by the plaintiffs against Sterling was one of the largest of its kind and the public benefit terms were significant and wide-ranging.
In 2006, the U.S. Department of Justice then sued Sterling for housing discrimination for using race as a factor in filling some of his apartment buildings. The suit charged that Sterling refused to rent to non-Koreans in the Koreatown neighborhood and to African Americans in Beverly Hills.
[101] In November 2009, ESPN reported that Sterling agreed to pay a fine of $2.7 million to settle claims brought by the Justice Department and Davin Day of Newport Beach[
citation needed] that Sterling engaged in discriminatory rental practices against Hispanics, blacks, and families with children.
[102]
In February 2009, Sterling was sued by former longtime Clippers executive
Elgin Baylor for
employment discrimination on the basis of age and race.
[103] The lawsuit alleged that Sterling told Baylor that he wanted to fill his team with "poor black boys from the South and a white head coach".
[101] The plaintiffs alleged that during negotiations for
Danny Manning, Sterling said "I'm offering a lot of money for a poor black kid".
[101][104] The suit also alleged that "the
Caucasian head coachwas given a four-year, $22-million contract" while Baylor's salary had "been frozen at a comparatively paltry $350,000 since 2003".
[103]