U.S. Supreme Court Bails Out Comcast in Racial Discrimination Case – By Elura Nanos (Law and Crime) / March 23 2020
The Supreme Court of the United States handed a big win to Comcast Monday when it ruled to employ the “but-for” rule in Comcast Corp. v. National Association of African American-Owned Media, a case about racial discrimination in media.
Entertainment Studios Networks, Inc. (“ESN”) is an African American-owned media company that owns and operates television networks. For years, ESN had been trying to get onto Comcast’s distribution list, but Comcast consistently refused. ESN sued Comcast for violation of civil rights statutes, alleging that Comcast contracted with white-owned networks, but that its refusal to carry ESN’s channels amounted to illegal discrimination. Comcast had introduced evidence that other, non-discriminatory business reasons, contributed to its decision not to work with ESN.
The Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of ESN, overturning the district court’s dismissal of the case. On appeal to the Supreme Court, the issue was whether, at the initial pleading stage, racial discrimination needed to be the only reason Comcast refused to do business with ESN.
Comcast argued that at all stages of the case, a “but-for” test is appropriate. Such a standard would mean that to prevail on a claim, racial discrimination needs to be the deciding reason that Comcast chose not to contract with ESN. By contrast, ESN argues that if racial discrimination was one among several factors influencing Comcast’s decision, it has a valid discrimination claim.
Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for the court, held that everything about §1981 points to the “but-for” rule being the correct one to apply, both during the pleading stage and during trial:
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