Minnesota Court Allows Public Housing Civil Rights Case Against Minneapolis to Proceed
The Minnesota Court of Appeals has ruled that Minneapolis and its public housing authority are not immune from a civil rights lawsuit alleging discriminatory inspection practices, allowing residents to pursue claims that they were denied services provided to private renters.
The Minnesota Court of Appeals has cleared the way for a significant civil rights lawsuit against the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority to proceed, rejecting immunity claims that could have blocked the case. The August 18, 2025 opinion addresses allegations that public housing residents were systematically denied inspection services and licensing protections that private rental residents have received for decades.
Residents Kimberly Lowry and Jeanne Harris filed the lawsuit in Hennepin County in September 2021 on behalf of current and former public housing tenants. The plaintiffs allege the City violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act by failing to conduct routine inspections of public housing units while performing those same inspections for private rental properties. Additionally, they claim MPHA violated various laws by failing to obtain rental licenses and maintain safe, habitable dwellings.
Judge Schmidt, writing for the three-judge panel, stated that "The duty to adopt a policy that includes the systematic inspections of all rental dwellings is a ministerial one that the director of regulatory services has violated." The court found that neither the City nor MPHA could claim immunity from the lawsuit, reversing a district court decision that had granted MPHA's motion for summary judgment.
The ruling upends more than thirty years of alleged failure by the City and MPHA to provide public housing residents with legally required services and housing quality standards. The court specifically noted that the district court erred in finding no questions of material fact regarding whether enforcement of licensing requirements would have prevented the residents' alleged injuries.
Anna P. Prakash of Nichols Kaster, PLLP, lead attorney for the residents, emphasized the importance of the decision, stating it removes longstanding excuses for the City's and MPHA's alleged failures regarding licensing and inspections. The case, Lowry, et al. v. City of Minneapolis, et. al, Case No. 27-cv-21-10928, will now proceed to address the merits of the discrimination claims in Minnesota's Fourth Judicial District Court.