PITTMAN v. STATE OF OREGON
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today released an opinion in PITTMAN v. STATE OF OREGON, No. 05-35900, a federal appeal. The panel consisted of Raymond C. Fisher and Marsha S. Berzon, Circuit Judges, and Judith Barzilay, Judge..
BERZON, Circuit Judge:
Helen Pittman appeals from dismissal of an employment discrimination claim brought under § 1981 against the Employment Department of the State of Oregon. The district court dismissed the § 1981 action, holding that the statute does not provide a cause of action against states. We affirm. FACTS On March 30, 2005, plaintiff Helen Pittman, an AfricanAmerican woman, filed a complaint in Multnomah County Circuit Court alleging employment discrimination on the basis of race and naming as defendants the State of Oregon Employment Department and Deborah Lincoln, Director of the Employment Department. Pittman brought her claim against the Employment Department under 42 U.S.C. § 1981, and her claim against Lincoln under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. In her complaint, Pittman alleged that the Employment Department was “an administrative agency and a subdivision of the State of Oregon that does business in Mutlnomah [sic] County.” On April 12, 2005, defendants removed the case to federal court and then moved to dismiss the case under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). In their motion to dismiss, defendants argued that there is no right of action to sue a state under either § 1981 or § 1983, and that a state, “regardless, is immune from such suits under the 11th Amendment to the United States Constitution.” On August 8, 2005, the district court issued an opinion and. . .