Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway has filed a lawsuit against Kansas City, alleging that its programs designed to assist minority and women-owned businesses are unconstitutional and discriminatory against white people and men. The lawsuit, brought on behalf of a Kansas City company and its owner, Charles Cacioppo, seeks to permanently prevent the city from considering race and sex when awarding third-party business contracts.
Hanaway stated that Kansas City's programs violate the equal protection clauses of the 14th Amendment. "Kansas Citians deserve a system based on fairness, merit, and equal treatment, not one that sorts people and spends taxpayer dollars based on race or sex," Hanaway said in a statement. "The city’s unlawful quotas violate the core promise of equal protection under the law, shut out qualified businesses, and deny hardworking Missourians the chance to compete on a level playing field."
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, a Democrat, criticized the lawsuit as a "political stunt." He expressed confidence that the city's legal team would handle the challenge, stating, "Our lawyers will handle it." Lucas also suggested that the lawsuit diverts the Attorney General's attention from other important issues. "Our new Attorney General takes part in yet another culture war issue," he said. "Our lawyers will handle it. The people of Missouri and Kansas City will lose, as talented young lawyers in her office spend their time on another political stunt rather than the safety of Missourians."
The lawsuit specifically targets the city's Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise program, which has been in place for over three decades. Under policies approved in 2016, the city set goals for awarding contracting dollars to minority-owned businesses (14.7 percent) and women-owned businesses (14.4 percent). Hanaway contended that recent studies did not provide sufficient evidence of specific instances of intentional discrimination or Kansas City's active participation in race- or sex-based discrimination in contract awards, which she argued is necessary to justify such programs.
Mayor Lucas has recently faced public scrutiny regarding public safety in Kansas City, particularly concerning an increase in activity by biker and ATV gangs, which some residents have described as creating a "dystopian" atmosphere. Lucas has rejected claims of personal responsibility for the city's law and order situation, emphasizing the need for adequate police staffing.
The lawsuit names Lucas, Kansas City Manager Mario Vasquez, and Jaime Guillen, director of the Department of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity, as defendants. Industrial Salvage & Wrecking Co. Inc. and its owner, Charles Cacioppo, are the plaintiffs seeking to compete for government contracts without race or sex being a consideration.