Wells Fargo obtains summary judgment win against government in systemic fair-lending litigation

Client(s) Wells Fargo Bank, National Association

Jones Day’s client, several Wells Fargo Bank, National Association affiliates, obtained summary judgment on all claims asserting discriminatory residential mortgage practices brought by Cook County, Illinois (the “County”) in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

U.S. District Court Judge Gary S. Feinerman granted defendants’ motions to exclude as unreliable and inadmissible the County’s two main expert witnesses. The Court then granted summary judgment, holding that the County failed to establish a triable issue as to its claims for intentional and disparate-impact systemic race discrimination under the Fair Housing Act. Among other defects, the Court ruled that the County produced no admissible evidence of any intent to discriminate against minority borrowers, failed to prove that any conduct by defendants proximately caused any injury to the County, and failed to prove that any policy adversely affected minority borrowers.

County of Cook, Illinois v. Wells Fargo & Co., et al., 14 C 9548 (N.D. Ill.)