Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’s brother is suing the town after his Malibu house burned down within the devastating Palisades Hearth.
Kenneth Bass and his spouse filed the lawsuit final month, alleging they have been injured resulting from smoke inhalation and suffered extreme emotional misery, annoyance and psychological anguish.
The swimsuit is certainly one of hundreds of complaints filed by property house owners after the damaging January 2025 wildfire ravaged the realm and left 12 individuals useless.
In his submitting, the Bass family joined 15 different native households from Malibu, Topanga and the Palisades who’re collectively searching for damages for property loss and damage.
The grievance, formally filed on Could 18, 2026, in LA County Superior Court docket, seeks a trial by jury.
The Publish has reached out to the couple’s attorneys, The Frantz Legislation Group, for remark.
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The lawsuit names the Metropolis of Los Angeles and the LA Division of Water and Energy (LADWP), alongside a laundry listing of different defendants. They embody Southern California Edison, the J. Paul Getty Belief, and varied telecom and state park entities.
The couple’s residential property, positioned in Malibu overlooking the Pacific Ocean, was listed as a “whole burn down” within the courtroom paperwork. The couple bought the land on Could 1, 2025, for $2 million.
The 78-year-old brother of Mayor Bass, who has confronted widespread criticism over the town’s dealing with of the wildfire, owns a kitchen reworking firm in Culver Metropolis referred to as The Kitchen.
Two weeks after the fireplace began, Mayor Bass revealed that her brother and his spouse had misplaced their longtime Malibu residence.
“The loss that you just’re going by means of, I share not directly. It’s hit my household too,” the mayor advised the Pacific Palisades Neighborhood Council in late January 2025.
Kenneth Bass has repeatedly said his assist for his sister and donated to her marketing campaign as she seeks reelection. She is going to face socialist-linked Metropolis Councilwoman Nithya Raman within the November runoff.
“I don’t suppose he has any selection. He can’t not do it as a result of it’s his sister [who is mayor],” Jennifer Grey Thompson, the founder and CEO of After The Hearth USA, advised L.A. Materials concerning the swimsuit. “It’s extremely unhappy, in some ways, that that is the case.”
Thompson stated stated the household shouldn’t be faulted for suing metropolis officers linked to the fireplace, given the trauma they skilled.
The Publish contacted each the mayor’s workplace and her marketing campaign for touch upon the lawsuit.
Attorneys representing the town and DWP have denied any wrongdoing.
“Our workplace stays assured within the Metropolis’s total place that it’s not chargeable for these disastrous wildfires,” stated Ivor Pine, a spokesperson for the Metropolis Legal professional’s workplace, to L.A. Materials.
