Lynnwood man tried to use a home DNA test to qualify as a minority business owner. He was denied — now he’s suing.
The owner of
Taylor is suing
His case is pending with the
In 2010 Taylor began identifying himself as multiracial after a DNA ancestry test estimated he was 90 percent Caucasian, 6 percent indigenous American and 4 percent sub-Saharan African.
He applied for state certification with the
With no criteria defining a minority race or ethnicity, OMWBE eventually approved Taylor. But that same state agency, which also manages the
Since then Taylor has pursued an unconventional legal path that raises questions about how the government determines who is and who isn't a minority. Should it matter what a person looks like? Should they have to prove they've suffered discrimination? Can DNA tests prove race or ethnicity? And is Taylor taking advantage of a program by basing his identity on DNA results that some experts consider unreliable?
The OMWBE decides on a case-by-case basis who qualifies for both the state and federal programs it manages.
"We work really hard to be fair, nothing is just black and white," she said. "It's never just one piece of evidence."
Yet some who qualified for the program acknowledged they had never been disenfranchised. A
Taylor said the system is broken: "There's no objective criteria and they're picking the winners and losers."
----Scientific skepticism
DNA testing is the latest tool people are using to help define themselves, though the results are at best an estimate and at worst inaccurate. (See story about this reporter's own contradictory DNA results, at seattletimes.com.)
Even the direct-to-customer DNA testing companies, which tout in advertising that customers can uncover their ethnic mix or find relatives, say in fine print that their results should only be used as a hobby.
A
Some experts say there is little science behind DNA ethnicity results.
"It's quite scientifically inaccurate," said
She also said it's misguided for people like Taylor to redefine themselves based on the results -- and unethical to use them for minority applications and government contracts.
Yet people's results can validate their beliefs, connect them to an unknown past or catch them off guard.
In 2013, white supremacist
When a longtime police officer in
Shortly after sharing the news of his ancestry in 2016, Sgt.
People told him racist jokes, he said, and during Christmas someone put a black Santa Claus ornament on the office tree with his name and "18%" written on it.
"He's always been perceived as a white male and has held himself out as a white male and been treated as a white male," Bogren said.
In a recent settlement, the city's insurer paid Brown
----Varying results
The DNA-testing industry has made hundreds of millions of dollars in the past decade, capitalizing on people's curiosity about their ethnicity and ancestors.
For less than
Strands of DNA look like a twisted ladder with an arrangement of molecules, called a DNA sequence. Companies analyze DNA differently using, for example, only the direct male line, DNA passed from mother to child, or a person's entire genome.
Using proprietary algorithms and databases, DNA companies compare someone's DNA to a worldwide group of samples they've already collected to determine their ethnicity and race, right down to specific countries.
But when a company calculates ethnicity and race, some populations are underrepresented or overrepresented based on how many people are already in that company's secret DNA database.
Duster, who chaired the ethical, legal and social-issues committee with the
For example, if a company's database of
"You can't believe these tests because they are based on statistical fiction of 100 percent white, 100 percent German or 100 percent Irish," he said.
Because of this, Duster said, someone will get different results if they use several DNA companies.
----"Visibly identifiable"
Taylor says the DNA test he took in 2010 changed his life.
Born in
The father of three daughters applied for OMWBE's minority certification for his business in 2013 after getting his DNA results, hoping to get more transportation contracts.
As part of the state's application process a business owner must submit a photograph, typically a driver's license or government ID. Those who aren't "visibly identifiable" based on the photo must submit further proof such as a birth certificate or tribal-enrollment papers.
The agency has no definition of "visibly identifiable," and there is no manual that describes how employees should interpret someone's visual appearance in a photograph.
Taylor supplied his driver's license and his DNA results stating he was 6 percent indigenous American and 4 percent sub-Saharan African.
The company he used -- Genelex of
No one from Genelex commented for this story, and its recorded phone message said it no longer offers genetic-ancestry testing.
Because DNA results are estimates with margins of error that vary depending on the database of samples for comparison, Taylor could be as little as 2.7 percent indigenous American and .7 percent sub-Saharan African, OMWBE records show.
Through his attorney, Taylor further claimed he was black because of the so-called "one-drop rule," a concept used historically by governments and white people to promote segregation and disenfranchise those with any African ancestry -- "one drop" of African blood.
The office denied Taylor's certification stating he wasn't visibly identifiable as a minority. But on appeal
Zenk said she doesn't know why. Only a handful of people have submitted DNA as part of their application the past five years, she said.
When Taylor applied to OMWBE again -- this time for a similar federal-level program with the
Taylor stated he subscribed to
Another finding the office cited: Taylor's birth certificate didn't state a minority race or ethnicity.
He was denied certification in
"It is nonsensical for
Taylor said he was disgusted by the decision.
"If I wanted to game the system I would have changed my birth certificate," he said.
Internally, OMWBE employees compared Taylor to a man who they say was granted federal and state minority status because he provided the required tribal membership card and had 0.39 percent Native-American ancestry.
"
However, tribal enrollment is a complicated issue that isn't always linked to fractions of blood and varies from tribe to tribe.
After he was rejected, Taylor filed a federal lawsuit against the OMWBE.
Judge
Taylor's attorney
If Taylor wins, his case could redefine how governments determine minority status for contracting purposes. If he loses, he said, at least he's brought a conversation about that issue to the forefront.
Taylor said he's spent up to
But
"To think of identity as a few genetic markers is woefully inadequate and incomplete," said Nelson, author of The Social Life of DNA: Race, Reparations and Reconciliation After the Genome.
"You have two facets of identity: who you think you are and what other people say you are," she said. "People have lived their whole lives and generations have been disadvantaged based on what they look like, how they talk or where they come from. That's not insignificant or subjective."
A WSDOT "disparity study" in 2017 found minority business owners "still experience barriers to equal contracting opportunities; questioning of their competency because of their race or gender; less access to business networks and information; job-related sexual or racial harassment or stereotyping" and other disadvantages.
----The state and federal programs often do fulfill their mission of helping those who face discrimination.
Zenk of OMWBE said: "It's one tool to level the playing field for minorities and women. It's not a handout."
His adoptive parents told Johnson that his father was from
He said a state employee met him in person to see if he was half Pacific Islander for the federal DBE program.
"I thought that was interesting they wanted to get a visual," Johnson said.
He said the certification in 2010 helped him survive the recession and continue to employ a crew of 15.
A few years ago, out of curiosity, Johnson mailed off his saliva to 23andMe to test his DNA. He said the results showed he was half Oceanian/Southeast Asian and half European.
Unlike Johnson, there are others who admit they look Caucasian and haven't battled racism, but have benefited from the program.
He said his dad, who used to own the company, was one-eighth black. But when asked during a phone interview if he looked
In 2014,
Menard said his status has helped him win contracts with Sound Transit -- about
Menard defended his status despite never facing discrimination, saying, " ... any drop (of blood) can be a significant amount to be categorized in that race."
While the state office has no set criteria for minority status, a nationwide minority-contracting organization started in the 1970s states someone must be at least 25 percent black, Hispanic, Asian or Native American to be a member.
"We don't allow DNA (results) because they are unproven," he said.
And yet birth certificates don't list ethnic percentages and can be changed merely by asking.
In fact, Taylor did just that, showing the state and federal programs can be gamed.
In November, long after his denial by OMWBE, Taylor changed his
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