Al-Khazraji, a professor and U.S. citizen born in Iraq, filed suit against his former employer and its tenure committee for denying him tenure on the basis of his Arabian race in violation of 42 U.S.C. Section 1981. The District Court held that while Al-Kharzraji had properly alleged racial discrimination, the record was insufficient to determine whether he had been subjected to prejudice.
The question posed was "Does 42 U.S.C. Section 1981 apply to Arab minorities?"
Judgmentedit
In response to this question the Court held that persons of Arabian ancestry were protected from racial discrimination under Section 1981. Writing for a unanimous Court, Justice White maintained that section 1981 encompassed discrimination even among Caucasians. Justice White noted that history did not support the claim that Arabs and other present-day "Caucasians" were considered to be a single race for the purposes of section 1981.
Justice Brennan, in a separate concurrence, said the following.
Pernicious distinctions among individuals based solely on their ancestry are antithetical to the doctrine of equality upon which this Nation is founded. Today the Court upholds Congress' desire to rid the Nation of such arbitrary and invidious discrimination, and I concur in its opinion and judgment. I write separately only to point out that the line between discrimination based on "ancestry or ethnic characteristics," ante at 481 U. S. 613, and discrimination based on "place or nation of . . . origin," ibid., is not a bright one. It is true that one's ancestry -- the ethnic group from which an individual and his or her ancestors are descended -- is not necessarily the same as one's national origin -- the country "where a person was born, or, more broadly, the country from which his or her ancestors came." Espinoza v. Farah Manufacturing Co., 414 U. S. 86, 414 U. S. 88 (1973) (emphasis added). Often, however, the two are identical as a factual matter: one was born in the nation whose primary stock is one's own ethnic group. Moreover, national origin claims have been treated as ancestry or ethnicity claims in some circumstances. For example, in the Title VII context, the terms overlap as a legal matter. See 29 CFR § 1606.1 (1986) (emphasis added) (national origin discrimination "includ[es], but [is] not limited to, the denial of equal employment opportunity because of an individual's, or his or her ancestor's, place of origin; or because an individual has the physical, cultural, or linguistic characteristics of a national origin group"); Espinoza, supra, at 414 U. S. 89 (the deletion of the word ancestry from the final version of § 703 of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(e), "was not intended as a material change, . . . suggesting that the terms national origin' and `ancestry' were considered synonymous"). I therefore read the Court's opinion to state only that discrimination based on birthplace alone is insufficient to state a claim under § 1981.
Significanceedit
In the companion case, Shaare Tefila v. Cobb, a unanimous Court ruled that the Civil Rights Act of 1866 likewise applies to discrimination against Jews.[2]
Text of Saint Francis College v. al-Khazraji, 481U.S. 604 (1987) is available from:CornellCourtListenerFindlawGoogle ScholarJustiaLibrary of CongressOpenJuristOyez (oral argument audio)
February 15, 2024
saint, francis, college, khazraji, 1987, united, states, labor, case, decided, united, states, supreme, court, supreme, court, united, statesargued, february, 1987decided, 1987full, case, namecitations481, more, 2022, 1987, lexis, 2054holdingpersons, arabian, . Saint Francis College v al Khazraji 481 U S 604 1987 is a United States labor law case decided by the United States Supreme Court 1 Saint Francis College v al KhazrajiSupreme Court of the United StatesArgued February 25 1987Decided May 18 1987Full case nameSaint Francis College v al KhazrajiCitations481 U S 604 more 107 S Ct 2022 95 L Ed 2d 582 1987 U S LEXIS 2054HoldingPersons of Arabian ancestry are protected from racial discrimination under Section 1981 Court membershipChief Justice William Rehnquist Associate Justices William J Brennan Jr Byron WhiteThurgood Marshall Harry BlackmunLewis F Powell Jr John P StevensSandra Day O Connor Antonin ScaliaCase opinionsMajorityWhite joined by unanimousConcurrenceBrennanLaws applied42 U S C 1981 Civil Rights Act of 1866 Contents 1 Facts 2 Judgment 3 Significance 4 See also 5 Notes 6 External linksFacts editAl Khazraji a professor and U S citizen born in Iraq filed suit against his former employer and its tenure committee for denying him tenure on the basis of his Arabian race in violation of 42 U S C Section 1981 The District Court held that while Al Kharzraji had properly alleged racial discrimination the record was insufficient to determine whether he had been subjected to prejudice The question posed was Does 42 U S C Section 1981 apply to Arab minorities Judgment editIn response to this question the Court held that persons of Arabian ancestry were protected from racial discrimination under Section 1981 Writing for a unanimous Court Justice White maintained that section 1981 encompassed discrimination even among Caucasians Justice White noted that history did not support the claim that Arabs and other present day Caucasians were considered to be a single race for the purposes of section 1981 Justice Brennan in a separate concurrence said the following Pernicious distinctions among individuals based solely on their ancestry are antithetical to the doctrine of equality upon which this Nation is founded Today the Court upholds Congress desire to rid the Nation of such arbitrary and invidious discrimination and I concur in its opinion and judgment I write separately only to point out that the line between discrimination based on ancestry or ethnic characteristics ante at 481 U S 613 and discrimination based on place or nation of origin ibid is not a bright one It is true that one s ancestry the ethnic group from which an individual and his or her ancestors are descended is not necessarily the same as one s national origin the country where a person was born or more broadly the country from which his or her ancestors came Espinoza v Farah Manufacturing Co 414 U S 86 414 U S 88 1973 emphasis added Often however the two are identical as a factual matter one was born in the nation whose primary stock is one s own ethnic group Moreover national origin claims have been treated as ancestry or ethnicity claims in some circumstances For example in the Title VII context the terms overlap as a legal matter See 29 CFR 1606 1 1986 emphasis added national origin discrimination includ es but is not limited to the denial of equal employment opportunity because of an individual s or his or her ancestor s place of origin or because an individual has the physical cultural or linguistic characteristics of a national origin group Espinoza supra at 414 U S 89 the deletion of the word ancestry from the final version of 703 of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 42 U S C 2000e 2 e was not intended as a material change suggesting that the terms national origin and ancestry were considered synonymous I therefore read the Court s opinion to state only that discrimination based on birthplace alone is insufficient to state a claim under 1981 Significance editIn the companion case Shaare Tefila v Cobb a unanimous Court ruled that the Civil Rights Act of 1866 likewise applies to discrimination against Jews 2 See also editUnited States labor law Civil Rights Act of 1866 List of United States Supreme Court cases volume 481 List of United States Supreme Court cases Lists of United States Supreme Court cases by volume List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Rehnquist Court Notes edit Saint Francis College v al Khazraji 481 U S 604 1987 Shaare Tefila v Cobb 481 U S 615 1987 External links editText of Saint Francis College v al Khazraji 481 U S 604 1987 is available from Cornell CourtListener Findlaw Google Scholar Justia Library of Congress OpenJurist Oyez oral argument audio Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Saint Francis College v al Khazraji amp oldid 1175149413, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
