District

This appeal involves a general demurrer sustained without leave to amend and raises the question of whether the allegations made were sufficient to state a cause of action under any legal theory. Appellant, Genesis Environmental Services (Genesis), alleges that the negligence of the respondent, San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District (the District), prevented it from remaining eligible to pursue the business of testing emissions for companies and other sources subject to mandatory emissions testing. The District contends it owed no duty to see that Genesis remained eligible and it is immune from liability for negligence. In addition to the negligence theories, we consider whether the allegations state a violation of Genesis’s constitutional right to equal protection.

We conclude Genesis’s allegations regarding the unequal application of certain guidelines state a violation of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment under the standards for a claim by a “class of one” set forth in Village of Willowbrook v. Olech (2000) 528 U.S. 562 [ 145 L.Ed.2d 1060 , 120 S.Ct. 1073 ] (Olech). Therefore, Genesis has stated a cause of action under section…