Midwest Fence Corp. v. U.S. Dept. of Transportation

Dist. Ct. did not err in granting defendants-federal and state agencies’ motions for summary judgment in action by plaintiffs-subcontractors alleging that defendants’ programs that provide advantages in highway construction projects to disadvantaged business enterprises (DBEs) that are primarily owned by minorities and women violate plaintiffs’ equal protection rights, where said programs direct states that accept federal highway funds to establish participation goals for DBE subcontractors on projects having subcontracting possibilities that, according to plaintiffs, serve to prevent them from obtaining said contracts. Federal DBE program is facially constitutional, where said program serves compelling government interest in remedying history of discrimination in highway construction contracting. Moreover, federal DBE program requires use of race and gender-neutral measures before turning to race and gender-conscious measures. Also, state DBE programs satisfied strict scrutiny test, where record showed need to remedy past discrimination in Illinois markets, and where programs were narrowly tailored to serve said remedial purposes, did not unduly burden third-party, non-DBE subcontractors and allowed front-end waivers of said goals.