The case that generated last summer’s Supreme Court decision allowing disparate impact cases to be brought under the Fair Housing Act, Inclusive Communities Project Inc. v. Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, was dismissed on last week by the district court judge charged with determining whether the housing advocacy plaintiff met the Court’s newly articulated standard for establishing disparate impact.
On remand, the district court noted that disparate impact liability “should not be established based solely on a showing of statistical disparity,” and that the plaintiff “must identify a specific policy that has created barriers to fair housing,” emphasizing that “[t]his is not a trivial burden.” Judged by this standard, the court concluded that the plaintiff failed to establish a prima facie case of disparate impact liability and dismissed the case.
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