HOUSTON — A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the race-based portion of the City of Houston’s Minority, Women and Small Business Enterprise Program violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution, siding with a Houston-area couple who challenged the policy.
U.S. District Judge David Hittner ruled in favor of Gerald and Theresa Thompson, owners of Landscape Consultants of Texas and Metropolitan Landscape Management, who sued the city and the Midtown Management District in 2023. The couple argued the contracting program discriminated against their landscaping businesses because they are white.
Hittner ruled that the program’s race-conscious provisions are unconstitutional but said the city and the Midtown Management District may continue programs that support small and women-owned businesses.
The Thompsons filed the lawsuit after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down race-conscious admissions policies at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina.
Erin Wilcox, an attorney with the Pacific Legal Foundation, which represented the Thompsons, said the ruling ensures government contracts are awarded without regard to race.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire’s office and attorneys representing the city did not immediately comment on the ruling.
U.S. Rep. Christian Menefee, D-Houston, criticized the decision, calling it another effort to eliminate programs that help minority- and women-owned businesses compete for government contracts.
The Houston City Council considered revising the minority business program in 2025 after a disparity study found Black-owned businesses continued to face disparities across all city spending categories, while Asian- and Hispanic-owned businesses did not face disparities in some categories.
The council ultimately voted to keep the program unchanged and approved the creation of a certification program for veteran-owned small businesses.
Before that vote, Whitmire said preserving broad support for the program would strengthen the city’s legal defense against challenges seeking to eliminate it.