Frilot Attorneys Defeat Motion for Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction on Behalf of State of Louisiana in Federal Court in Washington D.C.

A federal court in Washington D.C. denied plaintiff’s motion for temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to require the State of Louisiana to recalculate Road Home awards to homeowners using a formula which allegedly had a disparate impact on African Americans in New Orleans. In this case, the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center, the National Fair Housing Alliance, and five individuals who own homes in New Orleans (collectively "plaintiffs") brought suit against Robin Keegan, in her official capacity as Executive Director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority ("LRA"), and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ("HUD"), asserting that defendants violated the Fair Housing Act ("FHA").  Plaintiffs alleged that the formula used to distribute grants as part of the Road Home Homeowner Assistance Program, a housing redevelopment initiative designed to help homeowners affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, had a racially discriminatory effect.  

 The Court held that the relief requested was barred by the Eleventh Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Frilot attorneys A.J. Krouse, Renee Culotta and Suzanne Risey represented the State of Louisiana in this case.

Case Name:  

Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center, et al. v. United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and Robin Keegan, Executive Director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, C.A. No. 08-01938, 2010 WL 2718164 (D.D.C. July 6, 2010) 

Click here to view the complete Westlaw opinion.

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