Court rules civil rights code includes color discrimination claims

Life in the Workplace

By Joseph M. Gagliardo

Joseph M. Gagliardo is the managing partner of Laner, Muchin Ltd. and is the chairman of its litigation department. He has counseled and represented private and governmental employers in a broad range of employment matters for more than 30 years.

Posted April 17, 2014 2:39 PM

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois recently held that section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act covers claims of color discrimination, even where the alleged discriminator is the same race as the individual bringing the claim. Terra Jordan, the plaintiff in Jordan v. Whelan Security of Illinois, et al., No. 12 C 10158 (N.D. Ill. March 21, 2014), is a light-skinned African-American female. In 1999, the plaintiff began working for Whelan Security of Illinois Inc. as a security guard in downtown …

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