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DRAFT FOR ATTORNEY REVIEW — NOT FINAL

Gallagher v. Magner Ex Rel. City of St. Paul's Department of Neighborhood Housing & Property Improvement, 619 F.3d 823 (2010)

Citation
Gallagher v. Magner Ex Rel. City of St. Paul's Department of Neighborhood Housing & Property Improvement, 619 F.3d 823 (2010)
Parent Document
Gallagher v. Magner Ex Rel. City of St. Paul's Department of Neighborhood Housing & Property Improvement, 619 F.3d 823 (2010)
Effective Date
2010-09-01

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enforcement exacerbated that shortage. See United States v. City of Black Jack, Mo.,
508 F.2d 1179, 1186 (8th Cir. 1974) (FHA disparate impact claim supported in part
by the fact that forty percent of African-American residents were living in substandard
or overcrowded units).4 To the extent the City argues that a FHA violation cannot
arise from a statistical link between income and race, we disagree. “While [the City]
ultimately may not be held liable under the [FHA] for economic discrimination, the
existence of a significant statistical disparity, even one resulting from economic
inequality, is sufficient to create a prima facie case and shift the burden to come
forward with a legitimate business justification for the challenged practice.” Williams
v. The 5300 Columbia Pike Corp., 891 F. Supp. 1169, 1180 n.23 (E.D. Va. 1995); see
also Metro. Hous. Dev. Corp. v. Vill. of Arlington Heights, 558 F.2d 1283, 1288 (7th
Cir. 1977), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 1025 (1978) (exclusion of low-cost housing units
from defendant village had a discriminatory effect because “a greater number of black
people than white people in the Chicago metropolitan area satisfy the income
requirements for federally subsidized housing”); Black Jack, 508 F.2d at 1186
(reversing dismissal of plaintiff’s FHA challenge to an exclusionary zoning ordinance,
holding that disparate impact was established in part because a larger proportion of
African-American than white households have low incomes); Bronson v. Crestwood
Lake Section 1 Holding Corp., 724 F. Supp. 148, 154–55 (S.D.N.Y. 1989) (defendant
apartment complex violated the FHA by refusing to consider prospective tenants
based on their income levels).