http://articles.latimes.com/2003/aug/30/local/me-ruling30
30 Aug 2003 LA times
Use of Word 'Korean' Ruled Discriminatory
A judge says a landlord's ads and building names show that blacks and Latinos are unwelcome.
August 30, 2003|Jocelyn Y. Stewart | Times Staff Writer
To the ordinary reader, the word "Korean" indicates a particular national origin. But can the word also carry a discriminatory message?
In some cases it does, a federal court judge has ruled.
U.S. District Judge A. Howard Matz has issued a preliminary injunction that prohibits Los Angeles Clipper owner and real estate mogul Donald Sterling from using "Korean" in his building names, as well as advertisements and billboards related to the sale of his buildings or rental of units.
"Use of the word Korean in the names of residential apartment buildings would indicate to the 'ordinary reader' that the buildings' owner is not only receptive to but actually prefers tenants of Korean national origin," Matz wrote.
The judge, in his July ruling, also prohibited Sterling from requiring tenants to state their national origin or birthplace on rental applications or company forms. The ruling stems from a legal battle over accusations that the multimillionaire discriminates against African Americans and Latinos.
"On a statewide and even nationwide level, these are significant civil rights rulings as they create new precedent for all tenants in Los Angeles and elsewhere," said Gary Rhoades, litigation director for the Housing Rights Center, which filed the lawsuit.
"These violations -- the discriminatory apartment names and the demands for birthplace information -- had not been ruled on until now," Rhoades added.
The ruling remains in effect until the federal lawsuit against Sterling has been resolved.
But David Fischer, general counsel for Sterling's Beverly Hills Properties, called the injunction irrelevant and the lawsuit foolish. The firm decided against appealing the injunction because "it's not worth the investment of effort," he said.
Fischer said the company has removed the names from the apartment buildings. "It's sort of like a 'Seinfeld' lawsuit," Fischer said. "It's a case about nothing."
The legal battle, which is ongoing, is already changing, to some degree, Sterling's business practices. The fight also is producing pages of court documents that paint a portrait of Sterling as landlord. In court documents, he reflects on his 40 years in real estate and responds to accusations.
When it comes to basketball, the public knows Sterling. How much he pays his players, whom he trades and whom he recruits have shaped his public image as thrifty -- or stingy. But Sterling's dealings with the 10,000 tenants who live in his apartments have been a much quieter affair.
By his count, Sterling owns 99 apartment buildings in Southern California totaling 4,524 units, with 130 property managers responsible for day-to-day operations. Sterling and his wife, Rochelle, apparently employ a hands-on approach: visiting buildings, meeting with staff and directing renovations.
A federal lawsuit filed in February by the Housing Rights Center, the state's largest and oldest fair housing organization, accuses Sterling of instructing his employees to rent only to Koreans and Korean Americans.
During a staff meeting at the recently purchased building at 691 Irolo St., Sterling allegedly said Latinos "smoke, drink, and just hang around the building," according to the lawsuit. African Americans "smell" and "attract vermin." The suit charged that Sterling also said he preferred Korean American tenants because they "will live in whatever conditions he gives them and still pay the rent without complaint."
In declarations, African American and Latino tenants at the Irolo building said their lives changed when Sterling became the owner in 2002. Staff members no longer performed repairs, they required long-term tenants to sign in to the building, and they refused to accept their rent. Nonpayment of rent is a cause for eviction.
According to court documents, Sterling named several buildings incorporating the words "Korean or Asian." The building on Irolo was changed from Mark Wilshire Towers to Korean World Towers. A building at 445 S. Ardmore Ave. was named Wilshire Korean Towers.
On July 11, the Housing Rights Center asked for a preliminary injunction to prohibit Sterling's use of such names, as well as use of the South Korean flag, arguing that the "practice alienates and distresses the current plaintiffs and tenants living in these properties as well as discourages potential applicants."
But Sterling likened the practice to using the word Santa Monica in the names of his properties in Santa Monica, such as Santa Monica Towers.
Further, he said, prohibiting his use of the words Korean and Asian would injure his business.
"For example, there is a phenomenal basketball player currently playing in the NBA by the name of Yao Ming. Mr. Ming is a Chinese national," Sterling wrote in his declaration. "As I understand plaintiffs' broad requested injunction (i.e., limiting my right to use the terms Asian, Korean or similar words in any business advertisements) I would be restricted from placing advertisements about this phenomenal 'Asian' and/or 'Chinese' basketball player."
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