5th Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment Against Business Suing Another Business For Race Discrimination Under 42 U.S.C. 1981
/Interesting opinion because the plaintiff was a business rather than an individual.
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
White Glove appealed the district court's dismissal of its 42 U.S.C. 1981 racial discrimination claim and grant of summary judgment on its 42 U.S.C. 1981 retaliation claim. The Fifth Circuit reversed the district court's dismissal of White Glove's racial discrimination claim, holding that White Glove did not need a racial identity to have standing to assert a 42 U.S.C. 1981 racial discrimination claim and White Glove has statutory standing to assert a section 1981 racial discrimination claim. Quoting from the opinion:
The Supreme Court has never addressed corporate standing for § 1981 racial discrimination claims, and we have never held that constitutional discussion in Arlington Heights forecloses corporate standing in this statutory context.
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Methodist has not identified case law that explicitly requires a corporate racial identity for § 1981 standing. Nor has it proffered a compelling reason to reject Gersman’s persuasive reasoning. We hold that White Glove does not need a racial identity to have standing to assert a § 1981 racial discrimination claim.
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White Glove is not minority-owned. Methodist argues that because White Glove lacks an imputed racial identity, it necessarily lacks standing to assert a § 1981 discrimination claim. But Methodist overreads existing precedent. The circuit decisions holding that corporations with imputed racial identities may assert § 1981 claims do not mean that a corporation must have a racial identity to assert such a claim.
However, the court held that no genuine factual dispute existed regarding whether White Glove engaged in protected activities, and thus the court affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment on the section 1981 retaliation claim. The court remanded for further proceedings.
