42 U.S.C. Section 1981

Also known as Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866.

A federal law that prohibits discrimination based on race, color and/or ethnicity in the making and enforcement of contracts (e.g., employment contracts).

A federal law that prohibits employers from discriminating against their employees based on said employees’ race or ethnicity.

See 42 U.S.C. § 1981

REFERENCE DESK

Gratz v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 244 (2003):

We have explained that discrimination that violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment committed by an institution that accepts federal funds also constitutes a violation of Title VI. Likewise, with respect to § 1981, we have explained that the provision was meant, by its broad terms, to proscribe discrimination in the making or enforcement of contracts against, or in favor of, any race. Furthermore, we have explained that a contract for educational services is a “contract” for purposes of § 1981.Finally, purposeful discrimination that violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment will also violate § 1981.

Player v. State of Alabama Dept. of Pensions and Security, 400 F.Supp. 249 (M.D. Ala. 1975):

Section 1981 provides: “All persons within the jurisdiction of the United States shall have the same right in every State and Territory to make and enforce contracts . . . as is enjoyed by white citizens . . ..” It is clear that this section will support a claim against purely private conduct . . . It is [also] clear that Section 1981 creates no new body of contract jurisprudence and that the existence of a contract is to be determined through the application of traditional contract principles . . . This Court is aware that Section 1981 is to be interpreted broadly to effect the remedial purposes of the civil rights statutes. Nevertheless, relief under the statute is predicated on a finding of a denial of equal rights to make contracts.