Patterson v. McLean Credit Union

E165272

Patterson v. McLean Credit Union is a 1989 U.S. Supreme Court case that narrowly interpreted federal employment discrimination protections, prompting Congress to expand and clarify those rights in the Civil Rights Act of 1991.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Patterson v. McLean Credit Union canonical 7

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (44)

Predicate Object
instanceOf United States Supreme Court case ⓘ
employment discrimination case ⓘ
allegation discriminatory failure to promote ⓘ
racial harassment in the workplace ⓘ
areaOfLaw civil rights law ⓘ
employment law ⓘ
arguedDate 1988-12-07 ⓘ
citation 491 U.S. 164 ⓘ
concurrenceBy John Paul Stevens ⓘ
Thurgood Marshall ⓘ
William J. Brennan Jr. ⓘ
country United States ⓘ
court Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
decidedIn October Term 1988 ⓘ
decisionDate 1989-06-15 ⓘ
decisionType 5–4 decision ⓘ
dissentBy Harry A. Blackmun ⓘ
docketNumber 87-107 ⓘ
effectOnLaw limited federal remedies for post-formation employment discrimination under § 1981 until 1991 ⓘ
fullCaseName Patterson v. McLean Credit Union ⓘ
holding 42 U.S.C. § 1981 covers discrimination in the making and enforcement of contracts, but not conduct by the employer after the contract relation has been established ⓘ
failure to promote is actionable under § 1981 only if the promotion would create a new and distinct contractual relationship ⓘ
racial harassment relating to conditions of employment is not actionable under § 1981 as then written ⓘ
influenced enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 ⓘ
joinedByInMajority Antonin Scalia ⓘ
Byron R. White ⓘ
Sandra Day O’Connor ⓘ
William H. Rehnquist ⓘ
jurisdiction federal question jurisdiction ⓘ
languageOfOpinion English ⓘ
legalIssue racial discrimination in employment ⓘ
scope of 42 U.S.C. § 1981 ⓘ
majorityOpinionBy Anthony M. Kennedy ⓘ
overruledInPartByStatute Civil Rights Act of 1991 ⓘ
petitioner Brenda Patterson ⓘ
precedentFor narrow interpretation of § 1981 prior to 1991 amendments ⓘ
raceOfPlaintiff African American ⓘ
linked to: Black Americans
rearguedDate 1989-04-26 ⓘ
relatedCase Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co. ⓘ
Runyon v. McCrary ⓘ
respondent McLean Credit Union ⓘ
statuteInterpreted 42 U.S.C. § 1981 ⓘ
subsequentDevelopment Congress expanded § 1981 to cover post-formation discrimination in employment through the Civil Rights Act of 1991 ⓘ
subsequentHistory partially superseded by statute through Civil Rights Act of 1991 expansion of § 1981 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (7)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Civil Rights Act of 1991 → respondsToCourtDecision → Patterson v. McLean Credit Union ⓘ
Patterson v. McLean Credit Union → fullCaseName → Patterson v. McLean Credit Union ⓘ
Public Law 102-166 → respondsTo → Patterson v. McLean Credit Union ⓘ
McLean Credit Union → involvedIn → Patterson v. McLean Credit Union ⓘ
Runyon v. McCrary → relatedCase → Patterson v. McLean Credit Union ⓘ
Brenda Patterson → partOf → Patterson v. McLean Credit Union ⓘ
Brenda Patterson → notableWork → Patterson v. McLean Credit Union ⓘ