Comcast Corp. v. National Assn. of African-American Owned Media

Background

An African‑American entrepreneur and his small television company say a large cable company refused to carry their channels while favoring other outlets, and sued under the law that guarantees equal rights to make contracts. A district court dismissed the complaint after multiple attempts, finding the company had not plausibly alleged race was the decisive cause. The Ninth Circuit reversed, applying a looser test that required only that race play “some role.”

Reasoning

The Court studied the 1866 statute’s text, its history, and related precedent, and treated the ordinary tort rule — that plaintiffs must show but‑for causation — as the default. It rejected importing Title VII’s later “motivating factor” test or special pleading‑stage shortcuts into § 1981. The Court held a plaintiff must both plead and ultimately prove that race was the but‑for cause of the loss of a protected contractual right. The opinion did not decide whether § 1981 protects only final contract outcomes or the entire contracting process.

Real world impact

Lower courts must now evaluate § 1981 complaints under the but‑for standard, so many discrimination suits may be dismissed at the pleading stage if they lack facts showing race would have produced a different result. The Supreme Court vacated the Ninth Circuit’s decision and sent the case back for reconsideration under the correct legal rule. This ruling addresses how to plead and prove § 1981 claims rather than resolving the plaintiff’s factual allegations.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Ginsburg joined the judgment but stressed that § 1981 covers the full contracting process and warned against a narrow reading that would allow discriminatory hurdles before contract formation.