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Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1982', '§ 1982', '§ 1', '§ 2', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 1981', '§ 1982', '§ 1', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1982', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 18', '§ 16', '§ 5', '§ 1977', '§ 1981', '§ 16', '§ 1', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 2000', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981']

PATTERSON V. MCLEAN CREDIT UNION, 491 U. S. 164 - Volume 491 - 1989 - Full Text - US Supreme Court Center - USSC Cases - Nolo
US Supreme Court Center > Volume 491 > PATTERSON V. MCLEAN CREDIT UNION, 491 U. S. 164 (1989) > Full Text
In Runyon, the Court considered whether § 1981 prohibits private schools from excluding children who are qualified for admission solely on the basis of race. We held that § 1981 did prohibit such conduct, noting that it was already well established in prior decisions that § 1981 "prohibits racial discrimination in the making and enforcement of private contracts." Id. at 168, citing Johnson v. Railway Express Agency, Inc., 421 U. S. 454, 421 U. S. 459-460 (1975); Tillman v. Wheaton-Haven Recreation Assn., Inc., 410 U. S. 431, 410 U. S. 439-440 (1973). The arguments about whether Runyon was decided correctly in light of the language and history of the statute were examined and discussed with great care in our decision. It was recognized at the time that a strong case could be made for the view that the statute does not reach private conduct, see 427 U.S. at 427 U. S. 186 (Powell, J., concurring); id. at 427 U. S. 189 (STEVENS, J., concurring); id. at 427 U. S. 192 (WHITE, J., dissenting), but that view did not prevail. Some Members of
Our precedents are not sacrosanct, for we have overruled prior decisions where the necessity and propriety of doing so has been established. See Patterson v. McLean Credit Union, 485 U. S. 617, 485 U. S. 617-618 (1988) (citing cases). Nonetheless, we have held that "any departure from the doctrine of stare decisis demands special justification." Arizona v. Rumsey, 467 U. S. 203, 467 U. S. 212 (1984). We have said also that the burden borne by the party advocating the abandonment of an established precedent is greater where the Court is asked to overrule a point of statutory construction. Considerations of stare decisis have special force in the area of statutory interpretation, for here, unlike in the context of constitutional interpretation, the legislative power is implicated,
Another traditional justification for overruling a prior case is that a precedent may be a positive detriment to coherence and consistency in the law, either because of inherent confusion created by an unworkable decision, see, e.g., Continental T. V., Inc. v. GTE Sylvania, Inc., 433 U. S. 36, 433 U. S. 47-48 (1977); Swift & Co. v. Wickham, 382 U. S. 111, 382 U. S. 124-125 (1965), or because the decision poses a direct obstacle to the realization of important objectives embodied in other laws, see, e.g., Rodriguez de Quijas, supra, at 490 U. S. 484; Boys Markets, Inc. v. Retail Clerks, supra, at 398 U. S. 240-241. In this regard, we do not find Runyon to be unworkable or confusing. Respondent and various amici have urged that Runyon's interpretation of § 1981, as applied to contracts of employment, frustrates the objectives of Title VII. The argument is that
Finally, it has sometimes been said that a precedent becomes more vulnerable as it becomes outdated, and after being "tested by experience, has been found to be inconsistent with the sense of justice or with the social welfare.'" Runyon, 427 U.S. at 427 U. S. 191 (STEVENS, J., concurring), quoting B. Cardozo, The Nature of the Judicial Process 149 (1921). Whatever the effect of this consideration may be in statutory cases, it offers no support for overruling Runyon. In recent decades, state and federal legislation has been enacted to prohibit private racial discrimination in many aspects of our society. Whether Runyon's interpretation of § 1981 as prohibiting racial discrimination in the making and enforcement of private contracts is right or wrong as an original matter, it is certain that it is not inconsistent with the prevailing sense of justice in this country. To the contrary, Runyon is entirely consistent with our society's deep commitment to the eradication of discrimination based on a person's race or the color of his or her skin. See Bob Jones University v. United States, 461 U. S. 574, 461 U. S. 593 (1983) ("[E]very pronouncement of this Court and myriad Acts of Congress and Executive Orders attest a firm national policy to prohibit racial segregation and discrimination"); see also Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U. S. 483 (1954); Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U. S. 537, 163 U. S. 559 (1896) (Harlan, J., dissenting) ("The law regards man as man, and takes no account of his . . .
805 F.2d at 1145. Petitioner also alleges that she was passed over for promotion, not offered training for higher level jobs, and denied wage increases, all because of her race. [Footnote 2]
Where conduct is covered by both § 1981 and Title VII, the detailed procedures of Title VII are rendered a dead letter, as the plaintiff is free to pursue a claim by bringing suit under § 1981 without resort to those statutory prerequisites. We agree that, after Runyon, there is some necessary overlap between Title VII and § 1981, and that where the statutes do in fact overlap we are not at liberty "to infer any positive preference for one over the other." Johnson v. Railway Express Agency, Inc., 421 U.S. at 421 U. S. 461. We should be reluctant, however, to read an earlier statute broadly where the result is to circumvent the detailed remedial scheme constructed in a later statute. See United States v. Fausto, 484 U. S. 439 (1988). That egregious racial harassment of employees is forbidden by a clearly applicable law (Title VII), moreover, should lessen the temptation for this Court to twist the interpretation of another statute (§ 1981) to cover the same conduct. In the particular case before us, we do not know for certain why petitioner chose to pursue only remedies under § 1981, and not under Title VII. See 805 F.2d at 1144, n.; Tr. of Oral Arg. 15-16, 23 (Feb. 29, 1988). But in any event, the availability of the latter statute should deter us from a tortuous construction of the former statute to cover this type of claim.
In addition, interpreting § 1981 to cover racial harassment amounting to a breach of contract would federalize all state law claims for breach of contract where racial animus is alleged, since § 1981 covers all types of contracts, not just employment contracts. Although we must do so when Congress plainly directs, as a rule we should be and are "reluctant to federalize" matters traditionally covered by state common law. Santa Fe Industries, Inc. v. Green, 430 U. S. 462, 430 U. S. 479 (1977); see also Sedima, S. P. R. L. v. Imrex Co., 473 U. S. 479, 473 U. S. 507 (1985) (MARSHALL, J., dissenting). By confining § 1981 to the impairment of the specific rights to make and enforce contracts, Congress cannot be said to have intended such a result with respect to breach of contract claims. It would be no small paradox, moreover, that, under the interpretation of § 1981 offered by the Solicitor General, the more a State extends its own contract law to protect employees in general and minorities in particular, the greater
See post at 491 U. S. 208. We do not find this standard an accurate or useful articulation of which contract claims are actionable under § 1981 and which are not. The fact that racial harassment is "severe or pervasive" does not by magic transform a challenge to the conditions of employment, not actionable under § 1981, into a viable challenge to the employer's refusal to make a contract. We agree that racial harassment may be used as evidence that a divergence in the explicit terms of particular contracts is explained by racial animus. [Footnote 5] Thus, for example, if a potential employee is offered (and accepts) a contract to do a job for less money than others doing like work, evidence of racial harassment in the workplace may show that the employer, at the time of formation, was unwilling to enter into a nondiscriminatory contract. However, and this is the critical point, the question under § 1981 remains whether the employer, at the time of the formation of the contract, in fact intentionally refused to enter into a contract with the employee on racially neutral terms. The plaintiff's ability to plead that the racial harassment is "severe or pervasive" should not allow him to bootstrap a challenge to the conditions of employment (actionable, if at all, under Title VII) into a claim under § 1981 that the employer refused to offer the petitioner the "same right . . . to make" a contract. We think it clear that the conduct challenged by petitioner relates not to her employer's refusal to
Although the Court of Appeals recognized that the McDonnell Douglas/Burdine scheme of proof should apply in § 1981 cases such as this one, it erred in describing petitioner's burden. Under our well established framework, the plaintiff has the initial burden of proving, by a preponderance of the evidence, a prima facie case of discrimination. Burdine, 450 U.S. at 450 U. S. 252-253. The burden is not onerous. Id. at 450 U. S. 253. Here, petitioner need only prove by a preponderance of the evidence that she applied for and was qualified for an available position, that she was rejected, and that, after she was rejected, respondent either continued to seek applicants for the position or, as is alleged here, filled the position with a
Although petitioner retains the ultimate burden of persuasion, our cases make clear that she must also have the opportunity to demonstrate that respondent's proffered reasons for its decision were not its true reasons. Ibid. In doing so, petitioner is not limited to presenting evidence of a certain type. This is where the District Court erred. The evidence which petitioner can present in an attempt to establish that respondent's stated reasons are pretextual may take a variety of forms. See McDonnell Douglas, supra, at 411 U. S. 804-805; Furnco Construction Corp., supra, at 438 U. S. 578; cf. United States Postal Service Bd. of Governors v. Aikens, 460 U. S. 711, 460 U. S. 714, n. 3 (1983). Indeed, she might seek to demonstrate that respondent's claim to have promoted a better qualified applicant was pretextual by showing that she was in fact
The Court began its careful analysis in Jones by noting the expansive language of § 1982, and observing that a black citizen denied the opportunity to purchase property as a result of discrimination by a private seller cannot be said to have the "same right" to purchase property as a white citizen. 392 U.S. at 392 U. S. 420-421. The Court also noted that, in its original form, § 1982 had been part of § 1 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, [Footnote 2/1] and that § 2 of the 1866 Act provided for criminal penalties against any person who violated rights secured or
The Court then engaged in a particularly thorough analysis of the legislative history of § 1 of the 1866 Act, id. at 392 U. S. 422-437, which had been discussed at length in the briefs of both parties and their amici. [Footnote 2/3] While never doubting that the prime targets of the 1866 Act were the Black Codes, in which the Confederate States imposed severe disabilities on the freedmen in an effort to replicate the effects of slavery, see, e.g., 1 C. Fairman, Reconstruction and Reunion 1864-1888, pp. 110-117 (1971) (discussing Mississippi's Black Codes), the Court concluded that Congress also had intended § 1 to reach private discriminatory conduct. The Court cited
392 U.S. at 392 U. S. 427. This evidence included the comprehensive report of Major General Carl Schurz on conditions in the Confederate States. This report stressed that laws were only part of the problem facing the freedmen, who also encountered private discrimination and often brutality. [Footnote 2/4] The congressional
debates on the Freedmen's Bureau and civil rights bills show that legislators were well aware that the rights of former slaves were as much endangered by private action as by legislation. See id. at 392 U. S. 427-428, and nn. 37-40. To be sure, there is much emphasis in the debates on the evils of the Black Codes. But there are also passages that indicate that Congress intended to reach private discrimination that posed an equal threat to the rights of the freedmen. See id. at 392 U. S. 429-437. Senator Trumbull, for example, promised to introduce a bill aimed not only at "local legislation," but at any "prevailing public sentiment" that blacks in the South "should continue to be oppressed and in fact deprived of their freedom."
Because the language of both § 1981 and § 1982 appeared traceable to § 1 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, the decision in Jones was naturally taken to indicate that § 1981 also prohibited private racial discrimination in the making and enforcement of contracts. Thus, in Tillman v. Wheaton-Haven Recreational Assn., Inc., 410 U.S. at 410 U. S. 440, the Court held that "[i]n light of the historical interrelationship between § 1981 and § 1982," there was no reason to construe those sections differently as they related to a claim that a community swimming club denied property-linked membership preferences to blacks; and in Johnson v. Railway Express Agency, Inc., 421 U.S. at 421 U. S. 459-460, the Court stated that "§ 1981 affords a federal remedy against discrimination in private employment on the basis of race." The Court only addressed the scope of § 1981 in any depth, however, in Runyon v. McCrary, 427 U. S. 160 (1976), where we held that § 1981 prohibited racial discrimination in the admissions policy of a private school. That issue was directly presented and fully briefed in Runyon. [Footnote 2/6]
Ibid. Section 1 of the 1866 Act, as reenacted by § 18 of the 1870 Act, was passed under Congress' Thirteenth Amendment power to identify and legislate against the badges and incidents of slavery, and, we held in Jones, applied to private acts of discrimination. The dissent in Runyon, however, argued that § 16 of the 1870 Act was enacted solely under Congress' Fourteenth Amendment power to prohibit States from denying any person the equal protection of the laws, and could have had no application to purely private discrimination. See Runyon, supra, at 427 U. S. 195-201 (WHITE, J., dissenting). But see District of Columbia v. Carter, 409 U. S. 418, 409 U. S. 424, n. 8 (1973) (suggesting Congress has the power to proscribe purely private conduct under § 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment). When all existing federal statutes were codified in the Revised Statutes of 1874, the Statutes included but a single provision prohibiting racial discrimination in the making and enforcement of contracts -- § 1977, which was identical to the current § 1981. The Runyon dissenters believed that this provision derived solely from § 16 of the 1870 Act, that the analysis of § 1 in
Ibid. [Footnote 2/7] Respondent has supplied
no new information suggesting that the Court's conclusion as to the dual origins of § 1981 was mistaken. [Footnote 2/8] In sum, I find the careful analysis in both Jones and Runyon persuasive.
Even were there doubts as to the correctness of Runyon, Congress has in effect ratified our interpretation of § 1981, a fact to which the Court pays no attention. We have justified our practice of according special weight to statutory precedents, see ante, at 491 U. S. 172-173, by reference to Congress' ability to correct our interpretations when we have erred. To be sure, the absence of legislative correction is by no means in all cases determinative, for where our prior interpretation of a statute was plainly a mistake, we are reluctant to "place on the shoulders of Congress the burden of the Court's own error.'" Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Services, 436 U. S. 658, 436 U. S. 695 (1978), quoting Girouard v. United States, 328 U. S. 61, 328 U. S. 70 (1946). Where our prior interpretation of congressional intent was plausible, however -- which is the very least that can be said for our construction of § 1981 in Runyon -- we have often taken Congress' subsequent inaction as probative to varying degrees, depending upon the circumstances, of its acquiescence. See Johnson v. Transportation Agency, Santa Clara County, 480 U. S. 616, 480 U. S. 629-630, n. 7 (1987). Given the frequency with which Congress has in recent years acted to overturn this Court's mistaken interpretations of civil rights statutes, [Footnote 2/9] its failure to enact legislation
I turn now to the two issues on which certiorari was originally requested and granted in this case. The first of these is whether a plaintiff may state a cause of action under § 1981 based upon allegations that her employer harassed her because of her race. In my view, she may. The Court reaches a contrary conclusion by conducting an ahistorical analysis that ignores the circumstances and legislative history of § 1981. The Court reasons that Title VII or modern state contract law "more naturally govern[s]" harassment actions, ante at 491 U. S. 177-- nowhere acknowledging the anachronism attendant upon the implication that the Reconstruction Congress would have viewed state law, or a federal civil rights
The Court holds that § 1981, insofar as it gives an equal right to make a contract, "covers only conduct at the initial formation of the contract." Ante at 491 U. S. 179; see also ante at 491 U. S. 176-177. This narrow interpretation is not, as the Court would have us believe, ante at 491 U. S. 176-177, the inevitable result of the statutory grant of an equal right "to make contracts." On the contrary, the language of § 1981 is quite naturally read as extending to cover post-formation conduct that demonstrates that the contract was not really made on equal terms at all. It is indeed clear that the statutory language of § 1981 imposes some limit upon the type of harassment claims that are cognizable under § 1981, for the statute's prohibition is against discrimination in the making and enforcement of contracts; but the Court mistakes the nature of that limit. [Footnote 2/12] In my view, harassment is properly actionable under the language of § 1981 mandating that all persons "shall have the same right . . . to make . . . contracts . . . as is enjoyed by white citizens" if it demonstrates that the employer has in
The question in a case in which an employee makes a § 1981 claim alleging racial harassment should be whether the acts constituting harassment were sufficiently severe or pervasive as effectively to belie any claim that the contract was entered into in a racially neutral manner. Where a black employee demonstrates that she has worked in conditions substantially different from those enjoyed by similarly situated white employees, and can show the necessary racial animus, a jury may infer that the black employee has not been afforded the same right to make an employment contract as white employees. Obviously, as respondent conceded at oral argument, Tr. of Oral Arg. 30 (Feb. 29, 1987), if an employer offers a black and a white applicant for employment the same written contract, but then tells the black employee that her working conditions will be much worse than those of the white hired for the same job because "there's a lot of harassment going on in this work place and you have to agree to that," it would have to be concluded that the white and black had not enjoyed an equal right to make a contract. I see no relevant distinction between that case and one in which the employer's different contractual expectations are unspoken, but become clear during the course of employment as the black employee is subjected to substantially harsher conditions than her white coworkers. In neither case can it be said that whites and blacks have had the same right to make an employment contract. [Footnote 2/13] The Court's failure to consider such examples, and to explain the abundance of legislative history that confounds
Johnson, 421 U.S. at 421 U. S. 461. Perhaps most important, § 1981 is not limited in scope to employment discrimination by businesses with 15 or more employees, cf. 42 U.S.C. § 2000e(b), and hence may reach the nearly 15% of the workforce not covered by Title VII. See Eisenberg & Schwab, The Importance of Section 1981, 73 Cornell L.Rev. 596, 602 (1988). A § 1981 backpay award may also extend beyond the 2-year limit of Title VII. Johnson, 421 U.S. at 421 U. S. 460. Moreover, a § 1981 plaintiff is not limited to recovering backpay; she may also obtain damages, including punitive damages in an appropriate case. Ibid. Other differences between the two statutes include the right to a jury trial under § 1981, but not Title VII; a different statute of limitations in
A § 1981 plaintiff must prove purposeful discrimination. General Building Contractors Assn., Inc. v. Pennsylvania, 458 U.S. at 458 U. S. 391. Where the ultimate issue in a disparate treatment action is whether the defendant intentionally discriminated against the plaintiff, a well established framework of proof applies if the plaintiff offers only indirect evidence of discriminatory motive. See McDonnell Douglas
A black plaintiff claiming that an employment decision infringed her § 1981 right to make and enforce contracts on the same terms as white persons has the initial burden of establishing a prima facie case. This burden is not an onerous one. Burdine, supra, at 450 U. S. 253. The plaintiff need only prove by a preponderance of the evidence that she applied for an available position for which she was qualified, see supra, at 491 U. S. 213-214, that she was rejected, and that the employer either continued to seek applicants for the position, or, as allegedly occurred in this case, filled the position with a white employee, see McDonnell Douglas, supra, at 411 U. S. 802; Burdine, supra, at 450 U. S. 253. We have required at this stage proof only that a plaintiff was qualified for the position she sought, not proof that she was better qualified than other applicants. See McDonnell Douglas, supra, at 411 U. S. 802; Burdine, supra, at 450 U. S. 253, n. 6. Proof sufficient to make out a prima facie case raises a presumption that the employer acted for impermissible
In this case, in addition to attacking petitioner's claim to have made out a prima facie case, respondent introduced evidence tending to show that, if it promoted a white employee over petitioner, it did so because the white employee was better qualified for the job. This evidence rebutted any presumption of discrimination raised by petitioner's prima facie case. Our cases make it clear, however, that a plaintiff must have the opportunity to introduce evidence to show that the employer's proffered reasons for its decision were not its true reasons. It is equally well established that this evidence may take a variety of forms. McDonnell Douglas, supra, at 411 U. S. 804-805; Furnco Construction Corp., supra, at 438 U. S. 578. Though petitioner might have sought to prove that McLean's claim to have promoted a better qualified applicant was not its true reason by showing she was in fact better qualified than the person promoted, the District Court erred in instructing the jury that, to succeed, petitioner was required to make that showing. Such an instruction is much too restrictive, cutting off other methods of proving pretext plainly recognized in our cases. We suggested in McDonnell Douglas, for example, that a black plaintiff might be able to prove pretext by showing that the employer has promoted white employees who lack the qualifications the employer relies upon, or by proving the employer's "general policy and practice with respect to minority employment." 411 U.S. at 411 U. S. 804-805. And, of particular relevance given petitioner's evidence of racial harassment and her allegation that respondent failed to train her for an accounting position because of her race, we suggested that evidence of the employer's past treatment of the plaintiff would be relevant to a showing that the employer's proffered legitimate reason was not its true reason. Id. at 411 U. S. 804. There are innumerable different
ante at 491 U. S. 185, display nicely how it seeks to eliminate with technicalities the protection § 1981 was intended to afford -- to limit protection to the form of the contract entered into, and not to extend it, as Congress intended, to the substance of the contract as it is worked out in practice. Under the Court's view, the employer may deny any number of promotions solely on the basis of race, safe from a § 1981 suit, provided it is careful that promotions do not involve new contracts.
When I first confronted the task of interpreting § 1981, I was persuaded by Justice Cardozo's admonition that it is wise for the judge to "lay one's own course of bricks on the secure foundation of the courses laid by others who had gone before him.'" Runyon v. McCrary, 427 U. S. 160, 427 U. S. 191 (1976) (concurring opinion) (quoting B. Cardozo, The Nature of the Judicial Process 149 (1921)). The Court had already construed the statutory reference to the right "to make and enforce contracts" as a guarantee of equal opportunity, and not merely a guarantee of equal rights. Today the Court declines its own invitation to tear down that foundation and begin to build a different legal structure on its original text. I agree, of course, that Runyon should not be overruled. I am also persuaded, however, that the meaning that had already been
Similarly, if the white and the black applicants are offered the same terms of employment with just one exception -- that the black employee would be required to work in dark, uncomfortable surroundings, whereas the white employee would be given a well furnished, two-window office -- the discrimination would be covered by the statute. In such a case, the Court would find discrimination in the making of the contract because the disparity surfaced before the contract was made. See ante at 491 U. S. 176-177, 491 U. S. 179, 491 U. S. 180, 491 U. S. 184. Under the Court's understanding of the statute, the black applicant might recover on one of two theories: she might demonstrate that the employer intended to discourage her from taking the job -- which is the equivalent of a "refusal to enter into a contract" -- or she might show that the employer actually intended to enter a contract, but "only on discriminatory terms." Ante at 491 U. S. 177. Under the second of these theories of recovery, however, it is difficult to discern why an employer who makes his intentions known has discriminated in the "making" of a contract, while the employer who conceals his discriminatory intent until after the applicant has accepted