On March 23, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court in a unanimous opinion ruled that in lawsuits claiming racial discrimination in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1981 that plaintiffs have to plead and prove that the wrongful action by the defendant would not have occurred “but-for” the plaintiff’s race. Comcast Corp. v. National Association of African American-Owned Media, No. 18-1171, ___ U.S. ___ (2020). In this case, Entertainment Studios Network (ESN) claimed that Comcast violated 42 U.S.C. §1981 when Comcast refused to enter into a contract with ESN for its African American centered programming. For example, in this case, ESN has to plead and prove that “but for” the fact that ESN is an African American owned media company, ESN would have received the Comcast contract. Therefore, plaintiffs have to initially plead and eventually prove that “but for” the plaintiff’s race, the wrongful action would not have occurred. Plaintiffs are now facing a higher burden in §1981 cases. The Comcast decision results in a higher burden of proof for the plaintiff. The higher standard requires proof that the action at issue would not have occurred “but for” the plaintiff’s race instead of the lower standard that race was one of the defendant’s motivating factors in its decision affecting the plaintiff. If you have any questions or want further information please contact Karen Nissen, knissen@florida-law.com.