California Court of Appeal

In two female tenants' suit against their landlord, claiming that the resident manager of their apartment building entered their apartment in their absence, opened their dresser drawer and removed and sniffed their underwear in violation of the Unruh Civil Rights Act and other sections of the Civil Code that provide the right to be free from violence or intimidation by threat of violence based on sex and that prohibit sexual harassment, trial court's judgment sustaining the landlord's demurrer to the complaint in dismissing the case is affirmed where: 1) plaintiffs did not and cannot state a claim for violation of the Unruh Act as the resident manager's conduct may engender civil or criminal liability on any number of bases, but his conduct had nothing to do with the denial of equal accommodations or facilities on the basis of sex; 2) the manager's conduct did not violate plaintiffs' right to be free from any violence, intimidation by threat of violence based on their sex or marital status under section 51.7; and 3) plaintiffs have not stated a cause of action for sexual harassment under section 51.9.

Appellate Information

• Decided 10/06/2010
• Published 10/06/2010

Judges

• GRIMES

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Robert A. Brown, Kathryn Albarian