Forum
U.S. Supreme Court
Case Status
Decided
Docket Number
Term
2019 Term
Lower Court Opinion
Questions Presented
1. Whether, in accordance with this Court’s directive that “but-for” causation is the default rule for federal anti-discrimination statutes, the implied cause of action under section 1981 enacted in the Civil Rights Act of 1866 imposes a but-for standard of causation or instead incorporates the “motivating factor” standard first created in the late twentieth century for Title VII claims.
2. Whether a cable operator has a First Amendment right to include racial considerations ii among the factors it evaluates in making editorial determinations as to what programming to carry on its limited bandwidth.
Case Updates
Supreme Court issues GVR
March 30, 2020
Click here to view the GVR order.
The petition for a writ of certiorari is granted. The judgment is vacated, and the case is remanded to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit for further consideration in light of Comcast Corp. v. National Assn. of African American-Owned Media, 589 U. S. ___ (2020).
The U.S. Chamber filed an amicus brief supporting the petition. It also filed briefs at the cert. and merits stages in Comcast, as well as briefs supporting en banc review by the Ninth Circuit in both cases.
U.S. Chamber files amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to grant cert. to clarify that race discrimination must be the “but for” cause of a plaintiff’s injury to support a Section 1981 claim
April 11, 2019
Click here to view the Chamber’s amicus brief.
Gregory Garre of Latham & Watkins LLP served as co-counsel for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on behalf of the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center.