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Seven-year racial discrimination lawsuit between Atlanta investor and Small Business Administration in mediation

Written by By Péralte C. Paul Monday, 12 July 2010 00:00

latest news In 2001, when C. Earl Peek founded Diamond Ventures, an Atlanta-based venture capital firm, he envisioned establishing a $150 million purse that he would tap to make investments in start-up companies in the technology, construction and government contracting sectors.

It has not been so easy. Peek, who shuttles weekly between Atlanta and Washington, D.C., where Diamond also has an office, has been embroiled in a nearly seven-year-old lawsuit with the Small Business Administration, over what he says is the agency's discriminatory policies in providing loans to minority-owned investment firms.

Now with the case is in mediation, the two sides may soon hammer out an agreement.

The SBA-licensed Small Business Investment Company program, which is the focus of the Peek's lawsuit, serves as the bridge between start-up firms and traditional lenders.

In the lawsuit, Peek seeks SBIC certification, damages for the loss of capital he said the firm had obtained from investors, lost investment opportunities and legal fees.

Those SBICs also are urged to invest funds in low- and moderate-income communities and minority- and women-owned firms, he said.

By Péralte C. Paul The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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Author of this article: By Péralte C. Paul

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