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Home » Mechanical Contractors File Suit Over Minority-Owned Business Program

Mechanical Contractors File Suit Over Minority-Owned Business Program

January 29, 2019
Mechanical Contractors File Suit Over Minority-Owned Business Program

The Mechanical Contractors Association of Memphis filed suit against Shelby County government over its minority and women business enterprise program, claiming that one of its member companies lost out on a bid to a minority-owned contractor because of discriminatory, unconstitutional practices.

The lawsuit asks that the county be prohibited from implementing the program and that the individual plaintiff be awarded $500,000 or more in damages.

"Specific to this lawsuit, the MWBE Program uses race-based preferences in awarding government construction contracts and establishes an un-level playing field for nonMWBE contractors," the lawsuit reads, referring to the county's minority and woman-owned business program.

The trade group was joined by White Plumbing & Mechanical Contractors Inc. and Morgan & Thornburg Inc. in the suit.

The ordinance launching the minority and woman-owned business program was passed after a disparity study conducted in 2016 showed that about 88.3 percent of all prime contracts from the county went to white males, whereas only 5.8 percent went to African-American owned businesses and 5.1 percent to Caucasian woman-owned businesses.

More details and the full lawsuit can be found here. The potential for the lawsuit has been going since at least last July.

Associations Commercial Contractors & Installers HVAC Industry Community News Legal Mechanical Regulations
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