In appeal, Yema attorneys make case against dismissal of civil-rights suit

Attorneys for the owners of downtown Tiburon boutique Yema are arguing that a district court erred last year when it dismissed their $2 million federal civil-rights claims against Belvedere, its Police Department and an officer. The allegations stem from a late-night incident in August 2020 that involved alleged racial profiling, making national headlines the summer of global Black Lives Matter protests.

In a Jan. 11 brief to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, attorneys David Pruett of Long Beach and David Anderson of Mill Valley assert the lower court, the Northern District Court in San Francisco, “erroneously” applied a higher standard for pleading the case, leading to the May 31, 2023, dismissal of three federal claims.

The attorneys filed the notice of appeal less than a month later, on June 20.

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