In a 2019 landmark decision, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia awarded over $700,000 in damages and attorneys’ fees to an African American woman threatened and harassed on social media by white supremacists. Filed by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, pro bono counsel, and the Washington Lawyers’ Committee, plaintiff Taylor Dumpson’s lawsuit alleged that she, being the first African American president of American University’s student body, was the target of online hate crimes based on her race and gender. “This ruling is historic in that it marks the first time that a court has deemed racist online trolling activity that can interfere with one’s equal access to a public accommodation,’ said Kristen Clarke, President and Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
