Jett v. Dallas Ind. Sch. Dist.

In Jett v. Dallas Ind. Sch. Dist., 491 U.S. 701, 735 (1989), the U.S. Supreme Court held that 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Section 1983) provides the exclusive remedy for violation by state actors of the rights guaranteed in section 1981.

The case involved one of Texas' largest public-school districts. The district hired a White employee, Norman Jett, who was originally assigned as the head football coach at South Oak Cliff High School in the early 1960s. (Interestingly, the Supreme Court opinion referred to the school as "South Oak", notwithstanding it is commonly referred to by its initials "SOC", pronounced like "sock".) During his tenure, the demographic makeup of the school shifted from predominantly White to predominantly Black, leading the Black principal to engage in actions hoping to have Jett replaced with a Black head coach. Ultimately, Jett was reassigned to a high school with no sports programs, then to a "security detail", then to another high school as freshman coach; Jett refused the latter transfer, resigned from the district, and then sued claiming racial animus.

Later Events

In 1991, Congress passed and President George H.W. Bush signed into law Section 1981(c) as part of the 1991 amendments to the Civil Rights Act. This provision overruled the Jett decision.

Congress thereby clarified that both Section 1983 and Section 1981 may be utilized to redress discriminatory state action. Gallardo v. Board of County Comm'rs, 857 F. Supp. 783, 786 (D. Kan. 1994). The reference to nongovernmental discrimination is simply a codification of the holding of Runyon v. McCrary, 427 U.S. 160 (1976), that Section 1981 addresses private as well as state discrimination. See H. Rep. No. 102-40(I), 102d Cong., 1st Sess. 92, reprinted in 1991 U.S.S.C.A.N. 549, 630. Congress intended to expand the scope of civil rights protection, not limit it.