St. Paul, MN

A class action lawsuit has been filed against the city of St. Paul, Minnesota on behalf of at least 50 black business owners. The suit alleges that the plaintiffs have been victims of a "continuous pattern of discrimination," and claims that city officials purposely ignored laws intended to help minorities win pieces of publicly subsidized real-estate projects. According to an attorney for the plaintiffs, "You've got a group of business owners simply being denied the opportunity to bid on contracts. The city is not complying with its own affirmative-action program."