WEBVTT - Bloomberg Law Brief: Discriminatory Lending Practices (Audio)

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<v Speaker 1>Now our daily Bloomberg Law Brief, exploring legal issues in

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<v Speaker 1>the news, brought to you by American Arbitration Association. Business

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<v Speaker 1>More at a d r dot org. Today, Bloomberg Law

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<v Speaker 1>hosting Grasso and Greg Store discuss the Supreme Court ruling

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<v Speaker 1>on whether the City of Miami could sue Wells Fargo

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<v Speaker 1>and Bank of America for allegedly discriminatory lending practices. They

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<v Speaker 1>speak to David Gans, director of the Human Rights, civil Rights,

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<v Speaker 1>and Citizenship program at the Constitutional Accountability Center, and Matthew Nelson,

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<v Speaker 1>the partner at the law firm Warner Norcross and Jutt. David,

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<v Speaker 1>your group is calling this ruling of victory. What did

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<v Speaker 1>you see in Justice Brier's opinion that you liked well? So,

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<v Speaker 1>I think this is an extremely important ruling that says

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<v Speaker 1>cities can sue told banks accountable for housing discrimination. The Court,

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<v Speaker 1>in line with what it has said in prior cases,

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<v Speaker 1>said under the Fair Housing Act, there's a very broad

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<v Speaker 1>group of people who can get into the courthouse door

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<v Speaker 1>to sue that includes both those who have been directly

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<v Speaker 1>injured as well as others like cities. And the court

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<v Speaker 1>rested it's it's holding on the fact that in I

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<v Speaker 1>think four past cases, the court had affirmed a very

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<v Speaker 1>broad view of who could sue under the Fair Housing Act,

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<v Speaker 1>and the Court said Congress had ratified that, and so

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<v Speaker 1>based on that reasoning, the city could sue. So this

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<v Speaker 1>is a kind of a very important affirmation that cities

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<v Speaker 1>play a crucial role in vindicating the promise of racial

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<v Speaker 1>equality that the Fair Housing Act protects. Matthew, it wasn't

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<v Speaker 1>a total win for cities, and it's going back to

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<v Speaker 1>the lower court. So how do you consider this ruling? Well,

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<v Speaker 1>I think that's the ruling is a win for the

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<v Speaker 1>civil justice system in that it reaffirms that liability only

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<v Speaker 1>attaches to the direct consequences of misconduct, which is the

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<v Speaker 1>principle that our legal system has held to for more

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<v Speaker 1>than a century. And the idea here is that the

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<v Speaker 1>alleged discriminatory lending here has to have directly caused injuries

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<v Speaker 1>to the City of Miami for the City of Miami

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<v Speaker 1>to recover damages. So although the court has said that

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<v Speaker 1>the city of Miami can maintain the lawsuit they've remanded

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<v Speaker 1>for the lower courses determine whether or not the City

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<v Speaker 1>of Miami's injuries are direct and here. If you imagine that,

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<v Speaker 1>for example, you have a neighbor who has allowed party

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<v Speaker 1>that keeps you up, resulting and you giving an ineffective

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<v Speaker 1>presentation to a client that results and lost business, that

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<v Speaker 1>results in decreased revenue for you and layoffs of your employees.

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<v Speaker 1>You see that at the end of that change, you

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<v Speaker 1>wouldn't want to be able to have someone say, I

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<v Speaker 1>consume my neighbor for the party that kept me up

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<v Speaker 1>and here too. That's the question now that the court

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<v Speaker 1>has to consider. Is the City of Miami too far

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<v Speaker 1>detached from the alleged discriminatory practices to be able to

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<v Speaker 1>actually recover damages. That's Matthew Nelson, a partner at Warner

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<v Speaker 1>Norcross and Judd, and David Gans, director of the Human Rights,

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<v Speaker 1>civil Rights, and Citizenship Program at the Constitutional Accountability Center,

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<v Speaker 1>speaking to Bloomberg Law hostun Gresso and Greg Store. You

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<v Speaker 1>can listen to Bloomberg Law weekdays at one pm Wall

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<v Speaker 1>Street Time here on Bloomberg Radio. And that's this morning's

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg lawbrate. You can find more legal news at Bloomberg

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