Final answer:
Allan Bakke was responsible for the lawsuit regarding affirmative action quotas, leading to the significant Regents of the University of California v. Bakke decision. Brown v. Board of Education implied that racial segregation in schools caused feelings of inferiority and was unconstitutional.
Step-by-step explanation:
The individual responsible for initially filing the lawsuit questioning the use of quotas as affirmative action was Allan Bakke. Allan Bakke, a white applicant, was denied admission to the University of California, Davis medical school and challenged the university's policy for setting aside seats specifically for minority students. The landmark Supreme Court decision, Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, in 1978 ultimately barred the use of fixed racial quotas in university admissions but allowed for affirmative action to continue in other forms.
As for the decision in Brown v. Board of Education, it implied that segregation in public schools on the basis of race was inherently unequal and could lead to feelings of inferiority, which was a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This case was a significant milestone in the Civil Rights Movement, dismantling the 'separate but equal' doctrine established by Plessy v. Ferguson and moving the United States towards educational integration.