A federal judge has dismissed the lawsuit of a white business owner who challenged Colorado’s ability to distribute COVID-19 relief grants to minority-owned businesses. In doing so, U.S. District Court Judge William J. Martínez also dissolved his restraining order against the state.

On Oct. 12, Martínez temporarily blocked the Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) from using a business’s minority owned status as a criterion for distributing aid. Under the Disproportionately Impacted Business Grant program, qualifying small businesses who experienced losses during the pandemic could apply for grants of up to $10,000.

Stephen E. Collins, the white owner of event-planning company Resort Meeting Source, filed a lawsuit soon after applying, alleging the race-based factor was unconstitutional and disadvantaged him. Martínez, in issuing the temporary restraining order, signaled that Collins’ claim had merit. But the state quickly informed the judge that not only was Collins approved for his $10,000 grant, but in fact all qualified applicants were approved because the program was undersubscribed.

Martínez then reversed course on Thursday, dismissing the lawsuit because Collins and his business had not suffered an injury and therefore lacked standing to sue.

“Plaintiffs never competed with other applicants, nor were the minority-owned business preferences applied at all, much less applied to Plaintiffs’ detriment,” the judge wrote in his order.

This is the second time a federal court has tossed a challenge to the program the General Assembly first enacted in 2020 to direct $4 million in aid to minority-owned businesses. Data from the time showed businesses in majority-white neighborhoods were quicker to receive federal COVID-19 aid and that Black and Hispanic proprietors shuttered their businesses at higher rates in the first months of the pandemic.

After a white Colorado Springs barbershop owner sued over the original program, lawmakers revised it, broadening the eligibility criteria but still retaining minority ownership status as a factor. In April, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Philip A. Brimmer dismissed the lawsuit because the state had not finished setting up the program.

Resort Meeting Source was one of 11 companies that met one or more of the criteria for the Disproportionately Impacted Business Grant, and each of them received $10,000. None of them was minority owned. The other recipients according to OEDIT were Fisher Medicine, Djimi Djama, Said A Jama, Anji’s Probiotic Kitchen, Taqueria Esperanza, New Skyline Corporation, Abdi Liban, Colorado Coach Transportation, Web Mountain Technologies and Jeons Inc.

Colorado Politics could not immediately verify the existence of all applicants.

Martínez’s original temporary restraining order was in effect through Oct. 26, but he extended it through Oct. 29 so that he could consider the case in light of the fact that Resort Meeting Source had received what it asked for.

Collins’ attorneys argued the case should still proceed as a class action lawsuit because OEDIT planned to award additional grants in the future and could still disadvantage some business owners by applying the race-based criterion. But Martínez replied that because Collins lacked standing on his own, he could not possibly represent a class of plaintiffs.

“There is no class of non-minority-owned businesses that competed on unequal footing against minority-owned businesses for the relief payments,” the judge wrote, because every eligible business that sought an award will receive one.

In a declaration to the court on Oct. 25, Collins acknowledged OEDIT had told him on Oct. 19 he would receive the $10,000 grant and Collins submitted his bank account information two days later.

The case is Collins et al. v. Meyers.