42 U.S.C. § 1981 covers discrimination in the making and enforcement of contracts, but not conduct by the employer after the contract relation has been established
E642305
Patterson v. McLean Credit Union is a 1989 U.S. Supreme Court decision that narrowly interpreted 42 U.S.C. § 1981 to apply only to racial discrimination in the formation and enforcement of contracts, excluding most post-formation employment discrimination claims.
Observed surface forms (1)
| Surface form | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Patterson v. McLean Credit Union | 0 |
Statements (41)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
United States Supreme Court case
ⓘ
judicial decision ⓘ |
| appliesStatute | 42 U.S.C. § 1981 ⓘ |
| areaOfLaw |
civil rights law
ⓘ
employment discrimination law ⓘ |
| citation | 491 U.S. 164 ⓘ |
| country |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| court | Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ |
| decisionDate | 1989 ⓘ |
| decisionType | narrow interpretation of 42 U.S.C. § 1981 ⓘ |
| effect |
limited the scope of federal remedies for post-formation employment discrimination under 42 U.S.C. § 1981
ⓘ
prompted congressional response in the Civil Rights Act of 1991 ⓘ |
| factPattern | African American employee alleged racial harassment and discriminatory failure to promote ⓘ |
| holding |
42 U.S.C. § 1981 covers racial discrimination in the making and enforcement of contracts
ⓘ
42 U.S.C. § 1981 does not generally cover conduct by the employer after the contract relation has been established ⓘ post-formation employment discrimination claims are largely outside the scope of 42 U.S.C. § 1981 ⓘ racial harassment in the workplace is not actionable under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 when it concerns post-formation conduct ⓘ |
| influencedBy | textual interpretation of 42 U.S.C. § 1981 ⓘ |
| interprets | "make and enforce contracts" language in 42 U.S.C. § 1981 ⓘ |
| issue |
scope of 42 U.S.C. § 1981 in employment discrimination cases
ⓘ
whether racial harassment and discriminatory working conditions are actionable under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 ⓘ |
| jurisdiction | United States federal law ⓘ |
| keyPhraseInterpreted | "make and enforce contracts" in 42 U.S.C. § 1981 ⓘ |
| language | English ⓘ |
| legalCitation | 491 U.S. 164 (1989) ⓘ |
| legalPrinciple | section 1981 protects the right to make and enforce contracts, not conditions of continuing employment ⓘ |
| legalStatusAfter1991 | partially superseded by statute ⓘ |
| majorityOpinionBy | William H. Rehnquist NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| overruledInPartBy | Civil Rights Act of 1991 NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| petitioner | Brenda Patterson NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| precedentFor | limiting section 1981 to contract formation and enforcement prior to 1991 amendments ⓘ |
| relatedCase |
Goodman v. Lukens Steel Co.
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Runyon v. McCrary NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| relatedConcept |
post-formation employment discrimination
ⓘ
racial discrimination in contracting ⓘ workplace racial harassment ⓘ |
| relatedLegislation | Civil Rights Act of 1991 NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| respondent | McLean Credit Union NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| result | judgment largely limiting section 1981 claims to contract formation and enforcement ⓘ |
| subsequentDevelopment | Congress amended 42 U.S.C. § 1981 to cover post-formation conduct ⓘ |
| topic | interpretation of Reconstruction-era civil rights statutes ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
Patterson v. McLean Credit Union
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holding
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42 U.S.C. § 1981 covers discrimination in the making and enforcement of contracts, but not conduct by the employer after the contract relation has been established
ⓘ