California Court of Appeal

Walgreen Co. v. City and County of San Francisco, A123891

In plaintiff-Walgreen's challenge to a San Francisco ordinance banning the sale of tobacco products in certain retail establishments that contain a pharmacy, judgment of the trial court sustaining the city's demurrer without leave to amend is reversed in part as Walgreen's complaint adequately states a cause of action alleging an equal protection violation. Here, the challenged distinction among stores containing licensed pharmacies is not fairly related to the object of the prohibition on sales of tobacco products, as there is no rational basis to believe the supposed implied message conveyed by selling tobacco products at a Walgreens that has a licensed pharmacy is different in any meaningful way from the implied message conveyed by selling such products at a supermarket or big box store that contains a licensed pharmacy.

Appellate Information

• Decided 06/09/2010
• Published 06/09/2010

Judges

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Daniel M. Kolkey, Brett H. Oberst and Rebecca Justice Lazarus, for Plaintiff and Appellant


• For Appellees:
  
• Dennis Herrera, City Attorney, Wayne Snodgrass and Vince Chhabria, Deputy City Attorneys, for Defendants and Respondents