Yesterday’s Marin IJ reports that Dietrick Burks, a Black entrepreneur who relocated floating homes to the Marin waterfront, has filed a civil rights lawsuit alleging that Marin County discriminated against him because of his race.
The IJ article states that Burks purchased three floating homes from Docktown Marina in Redwood City in 2019 with plans to improve them and sell them in Sausalito. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, asserts that Burks was met with “racially-motivated resistance” once marina residents realized that the person seeking to relocate the floating homes was Black.
Burks is seeking an unspecified sum as compensation for increased costs due to having to comply with new regulations, pain and suffering, violation of his constitutional rights and attorneys’ fees. He also seeks punitive damages.
Marin County Counsel Brian Washington told the IJ, “The county of Marin has been served with the lawsuit, and we are carefully reviewing it. We will respond through the legal processes at the appropriate time. I can say now, without hesitation, that the county’s building policies are applied uniformly and are not motivated by race.”