Scoring System Under Scrutiny
Multnomah County, Ore., faces a class action lawsuit alleging its homeless assistance programs illegally prioritize applicants based on race and identity. The complaint, filed Monday, centers on a points-based system that awards extra points for interest in "culturally specific services" tied to racial groups, disadvantaging white applicants like plaintiff Michele Mei.
The lawsuit, now represented by Consovoy McCarthy, the firm behind the Supreme Court case Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, claims Mei was denied rent relief despite being disabled because she didn't express interest in services for "African Americans," "Native Americans," or the "Latinx community." Mei scored 17 points, two short of the 19-point threshold, after assessors refused to award points for cultural interest despite her later claims of openness.
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is already investigating the county's policies. If successful, the lawsuit could require Multnomah to compensate all white applicants wrongfully denied aid under the program.
Legal Precedents and Implications
The Multnomah Services and Screening Tool, adopted in 2024, replaced an earlier system that also weighted "culturally specific services" twice as heavily as disability status. Under both systems, Mei fell short despite multiple applications. A county official texted Mei in one instance, stating she would have qualified had she expressed interest in those services.
"The rubric explicitly disadvantages white applicants by denying points available to others based on race," the complaint argues. "Multnomah County's policies violate the Constitution's equal protection guarantees and federal anti-discrimination laws.」
Other defendants include Home Forward, Portland's public housing corporation; Metro, a regional government funding body; and Transition Projects, a nonprofit intake provider. The county allocates over $200 million annually to race-based housing initiatives, including set-asides for "BIPOC Community" housing projects like the Hattie Redmond Apartments.
Multnomah's homeless services department explicitly states it will serve "Black, Indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC) at higher rates than the general population" to address historical disparities. However, internal reports show more than 80% of programs saw no improvement in client diversity between 2023 and 2024.
The complaint alleges systemic bias: "Graders exercise discretion to deny marginal points to white applicants in circumstances where they would award those points to non-white applicants." Mei, who initially filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act, now seeks class-wide relief for similarly situated white applicants.