ARTICLE · 10 OCTOBER 2024

Federal Court Enjoins Race- And Gender-Based Classifications In USDOT DBE Program

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On September 23, 2024, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky (the "Court") issued an Opinion and Order in Mid-America Milling Co., LLC...

United StatesGovernment, Public Sector

Ann-Therese Schmid

Adeyemi O. Ojudun

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On September 23, 2024, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky (the "Court") issued an Opinion and Order in Mid-America Milling Co., LLC, et al., v. U.S. Department of Transportation, et. al., No. 3:23-CV-00072-GFVT, 2024 WL 4267183 (E.D. Ky. Sept. 23, 2024). The Court granted a preliminary injunction related to the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program (the "DBE Program"). Specifically, the Court found that the race- and gender-based rebuttable presumptions used in the DBE Program violate the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court limited the scope of the preliminary injunction to the plaintiffs, Mid-America Milling Co., LLC and Bagshaw Trucking Inc. (the "Plaintiffs"), in the states in which they operate — Kentucky and Indiana.

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