Donald Sterling controversy

Donald Sterling vs. National Basketball Association

Don­ald Ster­ling’s law­yers filed a law­suit in U.S. Dis­trict Court, al­leging that the NBA, Com­mis­sion­er Adam Sil­ver and oth­ers had vi­ol­ated his con­sti­tu­tion­al rights be­cause the re­cord­ing that touched off the scan­dal — made by his com­pan­ion V. Stivi­ano and pos­ted on the web­site TMZ — had been made in secret and without his per­mis­sion.

The suit asked for Ster­ling’s re­in­state­ment from a life­time ban, lift­ing of a $2.5-mil­lion fine and more than $1 bil­lion in dam­ages. It said that Ster­ling’s pri­vacy rights had been vi­ol­ated and that the NBA ac­tion was “grossly dis­crim­in­at­ory” in com­par­is­on to sanc­tions levied against play­ers who had made com­ments in­sens­it­ive to gays, the dis­abled and oth­ers.