TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Kate Prince on May 25, 2021

U.S. District Judge Travis McDonough in Knoxville has denied a temporary restraining order that would have stopped the priority status for restaurants and bars owned by women and certain minorities in President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 relief package, the Associated Press reports. The complaint targets the three-week period from May 3 until Monday when only funding requests from businesses owned by women, veterans or socially and economically disadvantaged individuals will be processed. The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty brought the lawsuit for a restaurant owner in Harriman, Tennessee. It claims the program pushes white males “to the back of the line” and puts them “at significant risk” of missing out on funding. McDonough was not swayed by the argument, citing data from the federal government that shows how businesses owned by women and some minorities “have suffered more severely” than others during the pandemic.