Missouri Sues Kansas City, Alleging Discrimination Against White People and Men

Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway filed a lawsuit against Kansas City, alleging programs that help businesses owned by women and racial minorities are discriminatory toward white people and men.

The federal lawsuit alleges that the city’s Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise program runs afoul of equal protection clauses of the 14th Amendment. Hanaway, a Republican, wants a federal judge to declare the programs unlawful and permanently force Kansas City from considering race and sex when awarding contracts to third-party businesses.

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The lawsuit comes amid a broader crackdown on diversity initiatives nationwide as conservatives argue similar programs treat white people unfairly. It also marks another clash between Republicans in Jefferson City and policies enacted in Democratic-leaning Kansas City.

Kansas City has had some form of the program for three decades. Under its most recent iteration, approved in 2016, the city has a goal of awarding 14.7% of its contracting dollars to companies owned by racial minorities and 14.4% of its contracting dollars to women-owned businesses.

No single company can qualify as both women-owned and minority-owned, and the businesses must have a presence in Kansas City.

The city must justify the program with a “disparity study,” which examines whether there are certain racial, ethnic or gender groups that are underrepresented in the contracts Kansas City awards to third-party businesses. Hanaway was underwhelmed by the evidence provided in the latest two studies, the lawsuit says.

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The lawsuit is brought on behalf of Charles Cacioppo, Jr., who owns Industrial Salvage & Wrecking Co. Inc. in Kansas City. Though the lawsuit said that Cacioppo’s company has won bids for competitive contracts, it wants “to bid for contracts in a system where Kansas City does not consider race or sex.

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Hanaway names the city, City Manager Mario Vasquez and Jaime Guillen, director of the Department of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity, as defendants in the lawsuit.