May 13, 2021- 11:17 a.m.
A Wisconsin group is suing the Biden administration on behalf of a Tennessee business owner, claiming that it is giving preference to restaurants and bars owned by women and minorities for COVID relief funds — adding that white men are being “pushed to the back of the line” for assistance, according to a report.
The lawsuit, which names Small Business Association Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman, was filed for Antonio Vitolo, the owner of Jake’s Bar and Grill in Harriman, Tenn., Fox 17 in Nashville reported.
It was filed in federal court in Tennessee by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty and targets the $28.6 billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund, which is only processing applications from “priority groups” — women, veterans, or “socially and economically disadvantaged individuals” — between May 3 and May 24.
Broader eligibility for assistance opens up after that period.
Vitolo said he applied for the COVID aid on May 3 but was told he didn’t qualify because he is white, the suit says.
It claims the distinctions are unconstitutional and calls on the administration to halt the payments until an equitable system is in place for distributing them, like first-come, first-served.
“Given the limited pot of funds, this puts white male applicants at significant risk that, by the time their applications are processed, the money will be gone,” the lawsuit says.
Vitolo’s wife, who is Hispanic and owns half the restaurant, isn’t eligible under the rules because a business is required to have a 51 percent ownership by someone in the “priority groups” to receive the aid.
“I do not want special treatment. I just want to be treated equally under the law. I am opposed to race and sex discrimination, and I would hope my government lived up to the same principle,” Vitolo said in a press release from the group.
The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty has also sued the Biden administration on behalf of white Midwestern farmers over its COVID loan forgiveness program that gives preference to black farmers.
The SBA announced this week that it began distributing payments to more than 16,000 applicants.
The Biden administration has said more than 186,200 eligible businesses applied for the financial help in the first two days of the program.
