CLEVELAND, OH – Progressive Preferred Insurance Company, known for their quirky ads featuring the recurring character Flo, was hit with a class action lawsuit earlier in August, accusing the company of engaging in “racially discriminatory practices” with respect to a monetary grant program by the private company offered exclusively to Black business owners.
On August 16th, Progressive was named in a class action suit filed out of the Northern District of Ohio Eastern Division, pointing to a recently launched grant program the insurance company is offering exclusively to Black business owners which the plaintiffs, Freedom Truck Dispatch LLC and its owner, Nathan Roberts, allege is discriminatory.
“Progressive Preferred Insurance Company provides commercial insurance to commercial trucking and delivery companies. It also engages in patently unlawful racial discrimination by offering a $25,000 ‘grant’ to 10 ‘Black-owned small businesses to use toward the purchase of a commercial vehicle.’ Progressive does not permit non-black-owned small businesses to even apply for the grant. Plaintiffs Nathan Roberts and Freedom Truck Dispatch bring suit to enjoin Progressive from continuing these racially discriminatory practices and recover classwide damages on behalf of everyone who has suffered unlawful racial discrimination on account of this program.”
According to the suit, Roberts had opted to purchase a commercial policy from Progressive for his trucking company in October of 2022. Come May of 2023, Progressive emailed Roberts advertising a $25,000 grant opportunity (an email ostensibly sent to all of Progressive’s commercial policy holders), but the caveat of the grant opportunity was that Progressive was only offering it to Black small business owners.
Roberts, who is White, obviously was unable to apply for the aforesaid grant, which he and his attorneys with America First Legal are arguing violates the plain language of 42 U.S.C. § 1981.
Cases revolving around alleged breaches of 42 U.S.C. § 1981 have proven to be both costly for those found in violation, such as in the 2022 case of Yarbrough v. Glow Networks, Inc. which saw millions awarded to the plaintiffs, and are not terribly difficult to prove so long as a “but-for cause” can be clearly demonstrated.
And in the case of Progressive’s advertised grant program, which the company issued a press release on August 15th detailing the recipients, the company is already facing an ostensible uphill legal battle since the language promoting the grant program –to this day – repeatedly articulates the Black-only exclusivity.
The listed demand for relief in the suit asks the court to certify the class action outlined in the filing, declare that Progressive did violate 42 U.S.C. § 1981 by excluding all non-Black applicants from the grant application process, prohibit Progressive from further engagement of such discriminatory practices, and to “award nominal, compensatory, and punitive damages against each of the defendants,” as well as cover legal fees and award any other relief the court sees fit.
Gene Hamilton, America First Legal Vice President and General Counsel, issued the following statement in light of the filed suit:
“All Americans deserve to be free from racial discrimination, yet major corporations across the United States inject racial considerations into every aspect of their business operations, employment practices, and so much more. As alleged in our complaint, our client — who is a small business owner fighting to create a better life for himself and his family — was denied a contract with Progressive that would have provided him with $25,000 toward the purchase of a new truck solely because of the amount of pigment in his skin. Progressive’s racially discriminatory arrangement is offensive to the American ideal, and we will fight to vindicate his rights and the rights of all similarly situated Americans.”
Gregory Hoyt is a former contributor to outlets such as Law Enforcement Today and Red Voice Media, and current host of The Breakdown with Greg Hoyt. Based out of Sierra Vista, Arizona, Hoyt is a staunch and outspoken advocate of law enforcement and first responders, while also harboring the unique experience of having spent nearly 5 years in prison. Since then, he's used his unique perspective to offer support and commentary about the criminal justice system. When not working or combating bad ideas, Hoyt also leisurely studies economics, history, and law.