Authors

Kate Baldridge, Golden Gate University School of Law

Article Title

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie: California's Section 11135 Fails to Provide Plaintiffs Relief in Darensburg v. Metropolitan Transportation Commission

Abstract

This Note examines Darensburg and the evidentiary problems faced by plaintiffs entangled in the bus-versus-rail controversy that are inherent to disparate-impact litigation. Part I discusses the factual background of Darensburg and relevant federal and state law concerning claims of both intentional and disparate-impact discrimination. Part II examines disparate-impact jurisprudence in the context of the unequal distribution of municipal services as background to the complexity of the issues presented in Darensburg. Part III analyzes the Darensburg opinion in light of that background and shows that the burden-of-proof issues faced by plaintiffs are illustrative of the lack of effective guidance to plaintiffs seeking relief from institutional disparities.

Recommended Citation

Kate Baldridge, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie: California's Section 11135 Fails to Provide Plaintiffs Relief in Darensburg v. Metropolitan Transportation Commission, 43 Golden Gate U. L. Rev. 7 (2013).
https://digitalcommons.law.ggu.edu/ggulrev/vol43/iss1/5