Calling Forum Lawyers: Is Donald Sterling the Injured Party ?

Question

I&#x27;m asking the lawyers on the forum the question of who legally is the injured party in the Donald Sterling matter, based on the facts as we currently know them. Let&#x27;s assume he is the worthless, crude, unethical, Neanderthal the comments attributed to him suggest. It would seem the law would be against him. No ?If you&#x27;re Donald Sterling&#x27;s lawyer, how would you answer the above question ( and please don&#x27;t tell me you wouldn&#x27;t represent old moneybags ) ? Did he do anything illegal ? Doesn&#x27;t the First Amendment protect moronic and bigoted speech ? It seems to me that the person who broke the law here is his accuser, the woman who recorded the conversation without his knowledge. Forgetting for the moment whether prosecutors would ignore it, isn&#x27;t it a direct violation of California law that she recorded him without his permission ? Doesn&#x27;t the law also make her liable for civil damages resulting from her illegal acts ? So when the NBA fines him a million dollars, can&#x27;t he go after her and attempt to make her pay ? I&#x27;d appreciate if the lawyers on the forum would consider offering a legal opinion, rather than adding discussion about how stupid and bigoted Sterling&#x27;s remarks are. That is a given.

1129ken · Answer

I&#x27;m asking the lawyers on the forum the question of who legally is the injured party in the Donald Sterling matter, based on the facts as we currently know them. Let&#x27;s assume he is the worthless, crude, unethical, Neanderthal the comments attributed to him suggest. It would seem the law would be against him. No ?If you&#x27;re Donald Sterling&#x27;s lawyer, how would you answer the above question ( and please don&#x27;t tell me you wouldn&#x27;t represent old moneybags ) ? Did he do anything illegal ? Doesn&#x27;t the First Amendment protect moronic and bigoted speech ? It seems to me that the person who broke the law here is his accuser, the woman who recorded the conversation without his knowledge. Forgetting for the moment whether prosecutors would ignore it, isn&#x27;t it a direct violation of California law that she recorded him without his permission ? Doesn&#x27;t the law also make her liable for civil damages resulting from her illegal acts ? So when the NBA fines him a million dollars, can&#x27;t he go after her and attempt to make her pay ? I&#x27;d appreciate if the lawyers on the forum would consider offering a legal opinion, rather than adding discussion about how stupid and bigoted Sterling&#x27;s remarks are. That is a given.

depeche2 · Answer

He&#x27;s a billionaire.  So what if he can sue her.  What&#x27;s that gonna do for him.  This is a PR issue for him, not a legal one.  If he goes full bore turning it into a legal issue, then he loses the PR battle, which is much more substantial.  And it&#x27;s not a first amendment issue because he&#x27;s not being charged with anything.

snoopy1899 · Answer

It is illegal to record someone without their consent, but I'm pretty sure he's more worried about damage control right now that suing her. Later, when he wants to teach her a lesson, he might sue her for the illegal recording. Just my opinion

Skr963 · Answer

He is the victim yes

searchwarrant · Answer

Can Clipper series degenerates recover losses in a class action suit?

VegasVandal · Answer

Uh, since when? Would love to see the law

searchwarrant · Answer

Pretty sure even the police can&#x27;t record a phone call and use it any way without a warrant.

TheGoldenGoose · Answer

People who get sukked into the Race War fabricated by the Media.

HutchEmAll · Answer

Hilarious. It is apparent many knew this guy was a racist for years and years. But that was OK as ling as they were getting paid and it wasn't public. Now that it's public, everyone is outraged.

PATHETIC

You don't think the agents for the Clipper players know what Sterling is all about?

Jump on the racism train when it suits you.

TheGoldenGoose · Answer

ken:  I have no legal experience but am fairly certain that recording consent laws vary from State to State.

HutchEmAll · Answer

People wonder why some don&#x27;t take accusations of racism seriously. This is exactly why. You can&#x27;t make an accusation when it is convenient or just jump on board when you see the train leaving the station.

TheGoldenGoose · Answer

Exactly Hutch. Then of course the Media has to fuel the fire.  It&#x27;s ridiculous.

joe pockets · Answer

" Honey drink your juices, while I burn your rich white @ss to the ground....girl of the Century award possibilities here !

thirdperson · Answer

Sterling is the author of his own misfortune.  NBA has legal right to punish famous owners who say racist remarks in public that tarnish the NBA.  If Sterling was a nobody swearing in private, there would be no penalty.

HutchEmAll · Answer

Sterling makes a public "mistake" and NOW it's time for the players and everyone else to take a stand.

Cowards. Might as well just fall in line with which ever way the wind blows.

"I'll gladly take your money as long as your bigotry falls below the radar."

canovsp · Answer

https://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/california-recording-law

It is illegal to record someone without their consent in the state of California.

I chimed in on the subj in the Politics Forum as well.

I'm sure any minute the proponents of "what two consenting adults do in the privacy of their own home as long as they aren't breaking the law" theory will be here any second.

Or does that just apply to g-a-y s-e-x?

Me personally, I'm an across the board "I don't give a damn what you do in the privacy of your own home" kind of guy.

kaponofor3 · Answer

CA lawyer here.

Racist thoughts and attitudes are protected free speech. Acting on those thoughts and attitudes, if done in a discriminatory fashion (i.e., I dunno, in housing?) is illegal under a number of federal and state laws.

On the flip side, recording someone without their consent is also illegal. That's why when, in CA, you call somewhere and you hear a recording that the call may be monitored and recorded for "quality assurance purposes" or really for whatever reason. Notice is the key point. The tape itself would not be admissible in a potential civil jury trial due to this fact, unless the woman could establish that Sterling knew the tape was rolling (highly unlikely -- he may be racist but isn't stupid enough to knowingly put that on tape, especially considering all the full page ads he puts out in the LA Times touting his work with underprivileged youth.)

Even if you could show that she recorded/released the tape, what good does that do you as Sterling's lawyer? You want to recover any "gifts" she got or money she embezzled. I guarantee she has either (a) already spent those funds or (b) will spend them on her attorney. She is, I'm willing to posit, likely "judgment proof". Congrats Donald, you get a judgment against her, and then she will just go file bankruptcy and it will be all wiped away.

gold6185 · Answer

Now I see why some of  the old time mafia guys never-ever spoke on a  telephone.

thorpe · Answer

Do you think there is any way the NBA could force Sterling to sell the team?  I doubt they would want to set that precedent.

kaponofor3 · Answer

Legally I highly doubt it, but I say that without any knowledge of the contracts that exist between the team and the league and with no knowledge of whether or not CA law would even apply to such a dispute.That being said, they could do everything they could to pressure him to sell, but I don&#x27;t think they would have any specific legal recourse.

HutchEmAll · Answer

Now sponsors are dropping the Clippers.  My cat knew this guy was/is a bigot. Now the players and sponsors are outraged.   COMPLETE JOKE.

benhogan76 · Answer

As much as I agree that the players and coach must have known that this guy was a racist cu nt of epic proportions this is also on Stern and all the other owners that let this coc ksucker survive in the league for 30 years.   Silver will be the one who takes the bullet on this because doesn&#x27;t matter what he does it wont placate everyone.

ilsp2003 · Answer

I think you misunderstood the issue Sterling can hate/like whoever he wants and he also has a decades-long history of racism( rental properties ..etc), which was never related to NBA.you stated that the players are taking Sterling&#x27;s money.Really ??Do you understand how NBA business or any sport-franchise ownership works ?Did you know that Sterling bought LA Clippers for  a mere 12 millions dollars in 1981According to Forbes, LA Clippers is worth $575 millionSterling makes more money than the players the real victims are the sponsors and the fans

ilsp2003 · Answer

Good pointHis decades-long history of racism/bigotry did not stop him from buying the team for a mere 12 millions dollars in 1981.I am not sure if David Stern could have done anything but Silver has to deal with this arrogant idiot.The other owners may be racist tooYou never know . Sterling thinks he is superior to the black players who make him money.On the fact that the majority of his players are black: &#x201C;I&#xD;&#xA; support them and give them food, and clothes, and cars, and houses. Who&#xD;&#xA; gives it to them? Does someone else give it to them? Do I know that I &#xD;&#xA;have &#x2026; Who makes the game? Do I make the game or do they make the game?&#x201D;

ilsp2003 · Answer

old fart Sterling still thinks like a slave master

Calling Forum Lawyers: Is Donald Sterling the Injured Party ?

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