In the case of Trafficante et al. v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. et al., 1972, the U.S Supreme Court ruled that tenants in a racially segregated housing complex had standing to sue their landlord for racial discrimination under Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (Fair Housing Act). The plaintiffs, two residents - one white and one black - alleged that they were harmed by their landlord's discriminatory rental policies which denied them benefits from interracial associations. The court held that any person who claims to have been injured by a discriminatory housing practice could sue those responsible for such practices even if they are not directly targeted or victims of discrimination themselves.

In the dissenting opinion for Trafficante et al. v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., Justice Rehnquist argued that the majority's interpretation of Section 810(a) of the Civil Rights Act was overly broad and not in line with congressional intent. He contended that Congress intended to provide a remedy only for those who were victims of discriminatory housing practices, not all residents within such communities as interpreted by the majority ruling. According to him, extending this right to sue under Title VIII beyond persons who are objects of discriminatory housing practices would mean any person residing anywhere in United States could become a "tester" and file suits against alleged violators across country without having suffered any personal harm or injury from these violations - an outcome he believed Congress did not intend when it enacted this law.