A lawsuit filed Monday against the University of California campus system accused the schools of illegally discriminating against white and Asian applicants. 

The complaint brought by Students Against Racial Discrimination said the UC system broke civil rights laws by giving an advantage to black and Hispanic applicants on the basis of their race. In a move that violated “colorblind” and race-neutral laws, major California schools rejected white and Asian applicants who held better academic credentials than some of their black and Hispanic peers because of their skin color, the group of plaintiffs alleged.