Facts

Schram Construction Inc. and Coral Construction Inc. brought two separate complaints (later consolidated) against the City and County of San Francisco, and others.

PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiffs contended that the City of San Francisco's adoption of an ordinance entitled "Minority/Women/Local Business Utilization Ordinance," which included race- and sex-based preferences in public contracting violated the state constitution. Specifically it violated, article 1, section 31, which prohibited discrimination or preferential treatment based on race, color, ethnicity or national origin with respect to public employment, public education or public contracting.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
The City and County of San Francisco denied that the ordinance violated the constitution and asserted various affirmative defenses.

Result

The court granted plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment and denied defendants' motion for summary judgment. Pursuant to the settlement reached between the parties, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission will pay $716,049 to settle its portion of the cost of settling the litigation. Additionally, the City and County of San Francisco will pay plaintiffs' attorney fees in the amount of $1,432,098.