America First Legal Files Class Action Lawsuit Against Progressive Insurance for Illegal Racial Discrimination

Yesterday, America First Legal (AFL), Mitchell Law PLLC, and Ashbrook Byrne Kresge LLC filed a class-action lawsuit against Progressive Preferred Insurance Company, Progressive Casualty Insurance Company, and Circular Board LLC for engaging in patent racial discrimination by offering $25,000 grants to ten “black-owned small businesses to use toward the purchase of a commercial vehicle.”

Progressive does not allow businesses owned by members of other races to even apply for these grants, and AFL’s client was barred from applying for this grant simply because he is not black. Progressive unlawfully offered these contractual benefits only to black-owned small businesses — a patent violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1981, which outlaws all forms of racial discrimination in the making of contracts. Circular Board LLC operates an online resource platform called Hello Alice, which conspired and partnered with Progressive in administering these racially discriminatory grants.

In July of 2022, AFL filed a class-action lawsuit against Amazon over its racially discriminatory delivery-service-partners program, which awards a $10,000 bonus to partners who are black, Latino, or Native American. AFL is proud to continue fighting for equal opportunity under the law and hold Progressive accountable.

Statement from Gene Hamilton, America First Legal Vice President and General Counsel:

“All Americans deserve to be free from racial discrimination, yet major corporations across the United States inject racial considerations into every aspect of their business operations, employment practices, and so much more. As alleged in our complaint, our client — who is a small business owner fighting to create a better life for himself and his family — was denied a contract with Progressive that would have provided him with $25,000 toward the purchase of a new truck solely because of the amount of pigment in his skin. Progressive’s racially-discriminatory arrangement is offensive to the American ideal, and we will fight to vindicate his rights and the rights of all similarly situated Americans,” said Gene Hamilton.

Read the complaint here.

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