Jackson v. Superior Court

Petitioner Donald Jackson seeks a writ to require respondent court to overrule a demurrer to a cause of action under the Unruh Civil Rights Act (Civ. Code, § 51).

Procedural History - Facts

On April 4, 1994, petitioner filed a complaint against Home Savings of America and Maria G. Delucchi-Kahale, an employee of Home Savings. The complaint alleges in relevant part as follows: Petitioner is in the business of giving investment advice. Two elderly sisters named Vivian Kerr and Marion Jackson were his clients. He advised them to place funds from matured certificates of deposit into a mutual fund, the Seligman High-Yield Bond Fund. On April 27, 1993, petitioner accompanied the two women to Home Savings to accomplish this through a cashier’s check made out to the Seligman Fund. Because of the size of the transaction, the teller brought the request to the attention of the branch manager, Ms. Marie Delucchi-Kahale. Ms. Delucchi-Kahale was suspicious of petitioner (an African American) because of her prejudice against African Americans. She incorrectly informed Ms. Kerr that she would suffer an interest penalty in the transaction. Ms. Delucchi-Kahale told the women that she had…