Judge Rejects Class Status for Lunada Bay Surf Suit

LOS ANGELES, CA - A federal judge denied class-action status for a lawsuit that accuses a group of local surfers known as the Lunada Bay Boys of acting like thugs by harassing outsiders to keep them from riding the local waves, court papers show.

The lawsuit, filed last year in Los Angeles by a pair of out-of-towners who claim to have been targeted by the Bay Boys, described as a group of middle-aged, longtime residents of Palos Verdes Estates.

U.S. District Judge James Otero on Tuesday rejected a motion for class- action status -- a designation that would have let more people join the litigation as plaintiffs.

The judge ruled that the plaintiffs had failed to meet the requirements for class-action status, including naming other proposed plaintiffs who said they had experienced similar issues with the Bay Boys.

Last summer, the Palos Verdes Estates City Council voted to tear down an illegal fort-like patio built above the Lunada Bay coastline decades ago and considered a hangout for the Bay Boys. Workers dismantled the stone structure in December.

-- City News Service, photo via Pixabay