Federal Appeals Court Denies Stay of MBE Decision: No MBE’s for Now

Kegler Brown Construction Newsletter

As previously reported, the State of Ohio's Minority Business Enterprise ("MBE") set aside programs has been declared unconstitutional and unenforceable in a lawsuit filed by AGC of Ohio. The State has appealed this decision to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati which is currently deliberating on this significant issue.

The State's lawyers had asked the Court of Appeals to stay the decision during the course of the appeal to, in essence, keep the MBE program intact in the interim.

However, the Court of Appeals recently denied the request for a stay.

This means that, at the moment, there are no enforceable MBE requirements on State public constructions projects in Ohio.