Supreme Court Upholds Disparate Impact Standard for Violations of the Fair Housing Act

In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court today issued its opinion ruling that disparate impact claims may be used to support plaintiffs’ claims of alleged Fair Housing Act (FHA) violations. Justice Kennedy wrote the Court’s opinion, joined by Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan in the case of the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (DHCA) v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc. The decision remands the case to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals for further proceedings consistent with the Supreme Court’s opinion.