SBA Could Stand Trial in Racial Discrimination Suit

Washington, DC — District Court Judge Kessler, ruled against SBA’s attempt to dismiss Diamond Ventures, LLC’s (Diamond) landmark lawsuit against the Small Business Administration (SBA), setting the stage for SBA to stand trial for discriminatory practices in its Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program. See case # 03-1449 Diamond Ventures, LLC V Hector Baretto and the United States Small Business Association (District Court of District of Columbia).

The judge’s ruling marks a critical milestone in the suit between the SBA and Diamond. Judge Kessler found credible testimony and reports that the program had only .86% (two persons) of the 350 licensed managers in the program who were African-American managers, that SBA’s own statistics show Black-Owned firms received just 2.55% of SBA approved financings, that .49% of all SBA dollars were to Black-Owned firms illustrating that SBA’s policies for decades have had a disparate discriminatory impact on Blacks and minorities.