PORTLAND, Ore. — A federal civil rights suit can proceed against the city of Portland and Legacy Emanuel Hospital & Health Center, a judge ruled Friday, according to The Oregonian.
In the lawsuit, plaintiffs are the descendants and survivors of the 171 families forced from their homes in the predominantly Black neighborhood by a hospital expansion project that never happened. The lawsuit alleges a conspiracy between city leaders and the hospital decades ago to remove Black people from Central Albina under a "false name of progress and the removal of 'blight.'"
Four out of five Black Portlanders lived in Albina, a portion of inner Northeast Portland that includes the Elliot, Boise, King, Humboldt, Overlook, Irvington and Piedmont neighborhoods.
In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs argued that the destruction of their home led to the destruction of a "vibrant, close-knit and thriving community," as well as the deprivation of inheritance, intergenerational wealth and opportunity. The group — Emanuel Displaced Persons Association 2, or EDPA2 — and the 26 families are seeking "tangible justice beyond symbolic apologies," including financial restitution for their losses.
Attorneys for Legacy Emanuel Hospital & Health Center and the city of Portland had asked the judge to throw out the lawsuit in October.
The defendants argued that those suing did not suffer direct harm and that the statute of limitations had run out, but U.S. District Judge Michael H. Simon disagreed, saying the loss of community, including family homes and intergeneration wealth, is indeed direct damage.
"The destruction of Central Albina and the failure to expand the hospital as promised, leaving vacant and abandoned land, has certainly injured the public generally," he wrote, adding that the displacement not only resulted in Portland no longer having a "thriving Black community" but also deprived the community of expanded health care.