Donald Sterling, who has owned theLos Angeles Clippers since 1981, sued the National BasketballAssociation a day taking into account his partner agreed to sell the team for $2billion to former Microsoft Corp. (MSFT:US) Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer.
Shelly Sterling said in announcing the chronicle price Ballmeragreed to pay that she was acting under her authority as thesole trustee of the Sterling Family Trust.
Donald Sterling, 80, seeks extra than $1 billion in damages,claiming the NBA violated his rights by banning him from thesport for life amid an racket over his racist comments, as wellas by fining him $2.5 million and taking steps to strip him ofownership of the team based solely on a discussion with alover that he said was illegally recorded.
Sterlings objection, filed yesterday in central court inLos Angeles, was premised on the assumption the NBA would gothrough with a June 3 hearing to terminate Sterlings ownershipof the team. He accuses the NBA of antitrust violations on thegrounds that a mandatory rummage sale would be anticompetitive. The NBAsaid yesterday that the June 3 meeting had been lost.
Mr. Sterlings lawsuit is predictable, excluding entirelybaseless, Rick Buchanan, executive vice president and generalcounsel for the NBA, said in an e-mailed statement.Amongother infirmities, there was no mandatory rummage sale of his team by theNBA -- which means his antitrust and conversion claims arecompletely invalid.
Since it was his partner, Shelly, and not the NBA, who agreedto sell the Clippers, Donald Sterlings lawsuit is based on non-existent facts, Buchanan said. Steve Ballmer Donald Sterling bought the then-San Diego Clippers 33 yearsago for $12.5 million. It was plant in the family trust in 2005,according to Donald Sterlings objection.
Two neurologists have deemed Donald Sterling to be mentallyincapacitated, CNN reported, citing two people it didntidentify. There is a provision in the Sterling Family Trust thatif either Donald Sterling or Shelly Sterling happen to mentallyincapacitated, then the other becomes the sole trustee, CNN saidit was told by one of the people.
The objection lists Donald Sterling and the trust asplaintiffs and names NBA Representative Adam Silver and theassociation as defendants.
A joint statement issued by the NBA and the trust saidShelly Sterling and the trust have agreed to indemnify the NBAagainst lawsuits by Donald Sterling. Antitrust Lawyer Maxwell Blecher, a lawyer for Sterling, didnt immediatelyrespond to an send- seeking commentary yesterday on reports ofSterlings mental capacity and on the NBAs statement that thecancellation of the mandatory rummage sale procedure makes Sterlingsallegations moot.
Blecher previously represented Los Angeles MemorialColiseum in a successful antitrust lawsuit in the 1980s when theNational Football League tried to stop former Oakland Raidersowner Al Davis from moving the team to Los Angeles.
In other instances, central judges have rejected antitrustclaims by owners as a matter of rule, Matt Mitten, a lawprofessor and director of the National Sports Rule Institute atMarquette University, said in a phone interview more willingly than thelawsuit was filed.
The furor over Sterling began taking into account TMZ.com on April 25published recordings in which he told his friend, a woman namedV. Stiviano, that he was bothered by her associating with blackpeople in public and posting a photo on Instagram of herself andHall of Famer Magic Johnson at a fixture. Gorgeous Guys The stimulus for the discussion in question was Stivianotelling Sterling that she was going to make four gorgeousblack guys to a Clippers fixture, according to Sterlingscomplaint. Sterling, in a jealous flash, asked Stiviano, whois half African-American, not to make black people to Clippersgames and to refrain from posting pictures of herself with blackpeople on Instagram.
The recorded remarks drew condemnation from PresidentBarack Obama and fellow NBA team owners as well as Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.
Silver banned Sterling from the league for life on April29. The league on May 9 installed former Citigroup Chairman Dick Parsons to run the Clippers until the ownership back issue isresolved.
Ballmer, 58, outbid at least four other suitors. Every one ofthe bids shattered the previous chronicle rummage sale price for an NBAteam of $550 million paid in April for the Milwaukee Bucks.Ballmer, with a fortune of $18.9 billion, is the 39th-richestperson in the world, according to the Bloomberg BillionairesIndex. He stepped down as Microsoft CEO in February. Conflicting Statements Sterling has made conflicting statements not far off from whether hewould allow his partner to sell the franchise or conflict theirpossible ouster in court. He signed a May 22 letter authorizingher to negotiate with the league regarding altogether issues inconnection with a rummage sale of the team.
In a May 27 letter that served as his representative response tothe allegations next to him, he called the proceedings asham and said he should be able to care for the team.
Pierce ODonnell, a lawyer in lieu of Shelly Sterling,didnt instantaneously reply to phone and send- messagesyesterday seeking commentary on the case.
A lawsuit would only delay the inevitable, DanielLazaroff, director of the Sports Rule Institute at Loyola LawSchool in Los Angeles, said in an interview more willingly than Sterlingfiled the objection. He has happen to a honest problem for theleague. Sexual Bond Shelly Sterling in March sued Stiviano, maxim her husbandhad a sexual bond with the woman and gave her a $1.8million duplex, two Bentleys, a Ferrari and a Vary Rover aswell as $240,000 for her upkeep, altogether of which came outdated ofcommunity property, according to court filings.
Stivianos lawyer alleged in a court call to throw outthat case that Shelly Sterling was complicit in her husbandsextramarital affairs and couldnt inquire for a return of thevaluables that her husband freely gave away.
In his lawsuit, Donald Sterling said his well to privacyunder the states constitution was violated when Stiviano made arecording of him lacking his consent.
Altogether the claimed adverse effects to the NBA flow from theillegal CD, according to his objection. Accordingly,this entire proceeding violates substantive constitutionalrights afforded Mr. Sterling by the California Constitution.
The case is Sterling v. National Basketball Association,14-cv-04192, U.S. District Court, Central District of California(Los Angeles).
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