Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass talks with California Governor Gavin Newsom while surveying damage during the Palisades Fire on Wednesday, January 8, 2025, in Pacific Palisades.(Photo by Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)
MAYOR KAREN BASS’ BROTHER, whose Malibu home burned in the Palisades Fire, has filed a lawsuit against the city his sister leads, among other defendants, for alleged lapses that led to the deadly blaze.
Kenneth Bass and his wife, Cindy, filed their suit against the city on May 18 in L.A. Superior Court, according to public filings reviewed by L.A. Material. The couple’s claim, which has not been previously reported, is among thousands of claims lodged by home and business owners in connection with the fire that erupted on Jan. 7, 2025, and pushed westward into Malibu.
The couple allege injuries from smoke inhalation as well as distress and anguish from the destruction of their home, which had a pool, putting green and panoramic views overlooking Malibu Pier.
Lawyers representing Ken Bass did not respond to messages seeking comment.
It was Mayor Bass who, two weeks after the fire started, publicly disclosed that her brother, a contractor who owns a kitchen remodeling firm in Culver City, and his wife lost their longtime Malibu home in the flames. “The loss that you’re going through, I share indirectly. It’s hit my family too,” Bass told the Pacific Palisades Community Council in late January 2025.
Around that time, residents of the Palisades and Malibu initiated litigation against the City of L.A. and specifically the Department of Water and Power, accusing it of contributing to the fire’s devastation with a water system that could not sustain pressure during a wildfire and an electrical system that was dangerous and fire-prone in red-flag weather conditions. (DWP has denied the allegations, and municipal water systems like DWP’s grid are not designed or required to battle wildfires but more run-of-the-mill property fires that may take a few minutes to hours to douse.)
The lawsuits from residents have proceeded through state court and swelled to include thousands of claimants. The case has now been consolidated into one “master” lawsuit outlining the allegations against DWP, along with the State of California and a few telecommunications companies, among others. The City of Malibu has also sued DWP and the State of California over the fire.
Mayor Bass’ brother and sister-in-law joined this 186-page master suit – in essence, adding their names to a boilerplate form with other claimants. Their filing offers few details about what the couple directly experienced.
In a statement on Tuesday, Yusef Robb, an adviser to the mayor, noted how Bass has previously discussed her brother’s home burning. “There’s nothing new here,” Robb said of the lawsuit. “Thousands of people are plaintiffs in this action, which names 18 public and private sector defendants."
Robb did not respond to whether Mayor Bass had discussed the lawsuit with her brother.
Jennifer Gray Thompson, the founder and CEO of After The Fire USA, a nonprofit that helps cities and fire victims in the recovery process, said fire survivors like Bass’ brother and sister-in-law should not be faulted for joining the case, given the trauma of enduring such a catastrophe and the need to recoup funds to rebuild and recover.
“I don’t think he has any choice. He can’t not do it because it’s his sister [who is mayor],” Gray Thompson said. “It’s incredibly sad, in many ways, that this is the case.”
Aerial view of a fire-ravaged neighborhood on August 1, 2025 in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images)
Gray Thompson recalled a firefighter who lost property after the Tubbs fire ripped through Santa Rosa and surrounding communities in 2017 and who opted not to join any legal action.
“He didn’t want to join anything that somehow might come after the entity he worked for,” she said. “And now he regrets it.”
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The litigation over the Palisades fire is still in its early stages. Lawyers for the city and DWP have denied the allegations of wrongdoing and in an April 1 filing offered a litany of general defenses, including that the city has some immunity from the claims and that “no negligent or wrongful act” by the city led to the fire damage.
“Our office remains confident in the City's overall position that it is not liable for these disastrous wildfires,” said Ivor Pine, a spokesman for the L.A. City Attorney’s office.
Bass’ brother Kenneth, 78, purchased his home in Malibu in the 1980s and put it on the market in 2025, after the fire. The listing last year noted that the 55,000-square-foot lot had been cleared of debris, and that the fire spared the pool house. The property ultimately sold for $2 million. With his wife, Ken Bass moved to the city of L.A., and he has repeatedly donated money to support his sister’s reelection bid, including $1,000 in November 2024 and another $500 in December 2025.
Now seeking a second term as mayor, Bass was the top finisher in the June primary and will face Councilmember Nithya Raman in the Nov. 3 general election.
Matt Hamilton can be reached at [email protected].
