No Standing in Housing-Discrimination Case

In Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center, Inc. v. Azalea Garden Properties, LLC, “a nonprofit entity with a mission to eradicate housing discrimination in Louisiana” sued when a “tester” used by that entity experienced allegedly unlawful behavior at an apartment complex.

A Fifth Circuit panel (notably, the same panel that found standing in the high-profile mifepristone case) found that the entity lacked standing, but offered three different analyses of that issue:

• The majority opinion found no cognizable injury had been pleaded, remanding with instructions to dismiss without prejudice;
• A concurrence offered additional thoughts about how cognizable injury could be established on remand (either with new allegations, or by adding individual plaintiffs);
• A dissent saw the standing issue as controlled by a 1982 Supreme Court case about a similarly situated housing nonprofit.

No 22-30609 (Sept. 14, 2023).