REDWOOD CITY - A lengthy lawsuit filed against San Mateo County and its public health officer, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Department of Public Health complains that it's unfair for collegiate- and professional-level sports to be permitted during the pandemic while the same sports remain banned on the high school level.
A Menlo High School freshman and volleyball athlete, Stella Buch, is the plaintiff in the 63-page lawsuit filed on Feb. 26 in the San Mateo County Superior Court.
Buch complains that the defendants' decisions to suspend high school sports interfered with her opportunities for playing in a championship and potentially being awarded scholarships. The suit says that almost three million California youth athletes have been unfairly benched during the pandemic while collegiate and professional athletes get to continue in sports that are of equal amounts of close contact.
Buch sued the defendants for violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and writ of mandate. She asks the court to issue a restraining order to prevent any governmental or law enforce entity to prevent high school sports from commencing and requests damages as seen fit.
Buch is represented by Wingert, Grebing, Brubaker and Juskie LLP.