Opinion ID: 3031374
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: “Make and enforce contracts” defined

Text: For purposes of this section, the term “make and enforce contracts” includes the making, performance, modification, and termination of contracts, and the enjoyment of all benefits, privileges, terms, and conditions of the contractual relationship. 4 See Vill. of Arlington Heights v. Metro. Hous. Dev. Corp., 429 U.S. 252, 263 (1977). 5 White v. Ford Motor Co., 312 F.3d 998, 1010 (9th Cir. 2002). 6 Parks Sch. of Bus., Inc. v. Symington, 51 F.3d 1480, 1488 (9th Cir. 1995); cf. Monterey Mech. Co. v. Wilson, 125 F.3d 702, 707-08 (9th Cir. 1997) (holding that a corporation, even if it had no ethnic identity, had standing to bring an antidiscrimination claim if compelled to discriminate by race or sex when it hired subcontractors). 4372 BAINS LLC v. ARCO PRODUCTS CO. corporation and mostly enrolled minority students, had standing to bring a § 1981 claim because racial discrimination against its students would damage the corporation’s business by interfering with its right to contract with minority students. We went even further in Thinket Ink Information Resources, Inc. v. Sun Microsystems, Inc.,7 where Thinket, a corporation owned entirely by African Americans, alleged that Sun Microsystems had deliberately refused to contract with Thinket based solely on its status as an African-American business.8 We found that when a corporation has acquired an “imputed” racial identity, it can be the direct target of discrimination and has standing to pursue a claim under § 1981.9 Here, as in Thinket, the corporation is owned entirely by Sikh shareholders, and while not all of its drivers were Sikhs, even the nonSikh drivers testified that they were treated poorly by Davis based on their association with what Davis saw as a Sikh company. Flying B undoubtedly acquired an imputed racial identity, and its allegation that its contract with ARCO was terminated due to the effects of racial discrimination clearly gives it standing to pursue a § 1981 claim against ARCO.