Towery

*228 Plaintiff and appellant Glenn Towery brought this action alleging claims for damages against various defendants arising from his contraction of coccidioidomycosis (commonly known as valley fever) while incarcerated in the Kern Valley State Prison. After several iterations of his complaint, the remaining defendants-respondents in this appeal-are the State of California and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (collectively, the State). Towery is African-American, and alleges that the State assigned him to the Kern Valley prison and failed to take preventative measures against valley *229 fever, despite knowing that Kern Valley is a high risk area for the disease and that African-Americans are more susceptible to contracting a serious version of it. The only remaining cause of action at issue in this appeal is Towery's claim under the Bane Act ( Civ. Code, § 52.1 ), which creates a claim for an individual whose constitutional rights have been violated through "threat, intimidation, or coercion." ( Civ. Code, § 52.1, subds. (a) - (b).) *694 The trial court granted judgment on the pleadings against Towery on his Bane Act cause of action on the ground that…