Foli v. Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (2015)

California law requires Metropolitan and other large water agencies to fluoridate their public water supplies. In this action under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 and 1983, plaintiffs alleged that Metropolitan’s selection and use of hydrofluosilicic acid as a fluoridating agent violated plaintiffs’ constitutional rights to substantive due process and equal protection. The district court granted Metropolitan’s motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. Metropolitan retained Horvitz & Levy to defend it against plaintiffs’ appeal to the Ninth Circuit, which affirmed the dismissal order.