Former Yankee Josh Donaldson Wins $222K in Lawsuit Against Landlord

Former Yankee Josh Donaldson has scored a win against a common New York nemesis—his landlord. 

The three-time All Star was awarded more than $222,000 by a federal jury in Connecticut over a dispute involving mold in his Greenwich, Conn., mansion, which he lived in while a member of the Bronx Bombers. 

On Wednesday, the jury found that Bill Grous breached his lease with the former third baseman in 2022 by failing to keep the house in a liveable condition. A judge is expected to double a portion of the amount in accordance with state law. Donaldson would get money back from his security deposit in addition to late fees and interest. 

The $222,000 is a combination of consequential and incidental damages plus substitute housing and increased transportation costs and his full $110,000 security deposit. 

Donaldson, who retired in 2024 after 11 seasons, played for seven different teams in his career and spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons with the Yankees. His career earnings are roughly $158.7 million. He paid $55,000 per month for the house, where he lived with his now-wife, Briana, and their infant daughter. The Donaldsons said the mold impacted 2% of the 4,500-square-foot home and caused them congestion and cough issues and that Grous was slow to address it without much communication about his plans to do so. The family wound up moving out of the house in April 2022, a month into the six-month lease and never returned. 

Grous filed a counterclaim against Donaldson for $275,000 for back rent and alleged the family plotted to break the lease because they simply didn’t like the house. The jury rejected the claim.