L.A Clippers owner Donald Sterling will settle a racial discrimination lawsuit with the U.S Department of Justice by paying a $2.725 million fine.

From LosAngelesBizJournals.com

The lawsuit, originally filed in August 2006, alleged that Sterling discriminated against African-Americans, Hispanics and families with children at apartment buildings he controls in the Koreatown section of Los Angeles.

Sterling’s wife, Rochelle, and the Sterling Family Trust were also named as defendants in the suit. Sterling owns and manages 119 apartment buildings comprising over 5,000 apartments in Los Angeles County.

According to a statement from the Justice Department, the payment is “largest monetary payment ever obtained by the department in the settlement of a case alleging housing discrimination in the rental of apartments.”

The $2.725 million penalty breaks down to a $100,000 civil fine and the other $2.625 million will be paid to a fund that will pay monetary damages to those “who were harmed by the defendants’ discriminatory practices.”

Black Woman Sues Billy Graham Group
A Black woman who was fired after complaining that the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association was snubbing African-American worshippers is suing the group for discrimination. In her lawsuit, Kimberly McCallum says that she was the only Black employee working in the executive offices in Charlotte when she started there two years ago, The Fort Mill (S.C.) Times reports. She said she complained to her superiors when she was asked to recruit congregations to a camp program and found that a list of 635 prospective churches had only three memberships that were primarily African American. It was clear, McCallum said, that the Black churches had been excluded. Just days after her complaint, McCallum said she was told her job with global offices was abruptly cut, because of downsizing. There were never any issues raised about the quality of her work, she says in the lawsuit, which she filed in June. McCallum said that when she tried to get other jobs at the Minneapolis-based association, she was blocked. “Subsequent to her discharge, plaintiff learned that the global offices had not been downsized and that the only job that was eliminated there was the one occupied by the plaintiff,” the lawsuit says. She wants a job reinstated, back pay and damages for what she describes as discrimination because of her race. Through a spokesman, the Billy Graham Association told the Times that his group does extensive outreach and works extensively with African-American and other diverse churches. The association goes to great effort to increase Black participation, he said, noting that two prominent Black pastors from the Minneapolis area recently led an association event there. “That’s a preposterous claim that the organization would deliberately bypass African-American participation,” the spokesman said. “In fact, the opposite is quite true.”

Pharmaceutical Firm Gets Praise for Diversity
The Eli Lilly and Company announced Wednesday that it was given the Epsilon “Star of Highest Magnitude” Award as the best company for Blacks in technology by the Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA) and WorkplaceDiversity.com. The Epsilon Award is given annually to the top company in the nation that promotes a workplace and environment that supports the advancement of African-Americans in the information technology industry. “We are thrilled and honored to have received this award,” said Michael Heim, senior vice president of information technology and chief information officer, at Lilly. “This award is proof that Lilly has made, and will continue to make, choices that support our dedication to diversity and ultimately offer better solutions for our employees and patients.” Lilly received the Epsilon Award at the BDPA’s annual national conference which was held this month in Raleigh, North Carolina. The first pharmaceutical company to win top honors, this was the fourth consecutive year Lilly was listed as one of the top companies for Blacks in technology. To qualify, a company must attract and recruit the most talented employees, clients and customers as well as realize positive financial results to be considered for this award. Eligible companies also submit a survey related to workforce and supplier diversity within the organization.