Kenneth Bass is one of thousands of residents and business owners suing the city of Los Angeles and other entities for property loss and other damage caused during the Palisades fire disaster.
But unlike other plaintiffs, she is suing a body led by her sister, who is in the middle of a heated re-election campaign as frustrations over her response to the massacre have taken the stage.
Kenneth Bass, 78, and his wife, Cindy, filed their lawsuit in LA Superior Court on May 18, according to court records first reported by LA Material. The couple said they suffered from smoke inhalation, emotional distress and mental anguish as a result of the fire that destroyed their home in Malibu, according to the complaint.
Their claims are still being considered as part of a main lawsuit alleging that dozens of public entities and utilities — including the city, county, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the California Department of Parks and Recreation and Southern California Edison — are responsible for damages suffered by residents in the Palisades fire, which destroyed about 6,800 properties and killed 12 people. Attorneys for the city and LADWP have repeatedly denied responsibility for the tragic loss.
Bass's press secretary, Paige Sterling, said in a statement that there was nothing new to report about Kenneth Bass' involvement in the case.
“Mayor Bass has spoken publicly about the loss of his brother since January of 2025,” he said. “Thousands of people are plaintiffs in this action, which names 18 private and public sector defendants.
LA Mayor Karen Bass and California Gov. Gavin Newsom visited the devastated business district of the city of Pacific Palisades on Jan. 8, 2025.
(Eric Thayer/Getty Images)
Bass shared that his brother lost his house at a meeting with the Pacific Palisades Community Council in January 2025.
“The loss you are going through, I share indirectly. It has also affected my family,” he told the residents during the meeting. “My brother, who has lived in Malibu for 40 years, has been hit by fires many times, evacuated many times – this time he didn't escape.”
He described the place as a family home where he spent the holidays and losing the home as “a kind of shock and grief that will be with us for a long time.”
Although federal prosecutors have laid the blame for the Palisades fire, attorneys representing the plaintiffs maintain that the city and LADWP failed to adequately prepare for and respond to the fire.
In particular, Mayor Bass and the LADWP were criticized because the Santa Ynez Reservoir in the Palisades was empty while the fire charted its destructive course. LADWP has also been accused of failing to maintain adequate water pressure and having an electrical grid prone to fires – claims it has denied.
A major civil lawsuit filed by Palisades fire victims is still in the early stages. The city of Malibu has filed its own lawsuit accusing the city of LA, the state and several other agencies of negligence that caused the fire's destruction.
Mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt based his campaign in large part on bitter criticism of Bass' handling of the Palisades fire and his frustration after the destruction of his Pacific Palisades home. On Monday, however, he failed to advance in the run-off election.
Bass will now face the ongoing role of City Councilor Nithya Raman in the November election.
