Plaintiff, a terminated insurance company employee, filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, alleging that his termination was the result of redlining prohibited by the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. 1; federal civil rights statutes, 42 U.S.C. 1981, 1982; the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3601-3619; and the North Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act, N.C.G.S. 75-1. U.S. District Court Judge Robert D. Potter granted the Defendant-insurance company's motion to dismiss, finding that the McCarran-Ferguson Act, 15 U.S.C. 1011, immunized the Defendant from suit for allegations of redlining.

On January 6, 1984, the Fourth Circuit affirmed the dismissal, but on different grounds. The appellate court found that the McCarran-Ferguson Act did immunize the Defendant from suit under antitrust laws, but that the Plaintiff lacked standing to bring a claim under the remaining statutes because he was merely a terminated employee rather than a rejected home applicant or borrower. Mackey v. Nationwide Ins. Cos., 724 F.2d 419 (4th Cir. 1984).

Andrew Nash - 06/02/2008


compress summary