Meyer v. Holley

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Meyer v. Holley (2003) is a United States Supreme Court decision about the Fair Housing Act (FHA). The Court held that the FHA imposes strict liability on employers—specifically residential real estate companies—for racial discrimination by their employees or agents, applying traditional agency principles. In other words, a housing company can be liable for discrimination by its workers even if the company itself did not intend to discriminate. At the same time, the Court ruled that the officers and owners of the company are generally not personally liable for the discriminatory acts of the company’s employees. The decision was unanimous and written by Justice Stephen Breyer. The case was argued December 3, 2002 and decided January 22, 2003. The ruling involved FHA sections 3604(b) and 3605(a). Meyer v. Holley followed the Ninth Circuit’s Holley v. Crank in laying out how vicarious liability works under the FHA.