Civil Rights-Corporate Directors Held Personally Liable for Intentional Racial Discrimination Despite Due Diligence to Know the Law

Authors

Abstract

In 1968, the Supreme Court resurrected section 1 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 [now 42 U.S.C. §§ 19812 and 19823 (1970)] and held that section 1982 prohibits private as well as public racial discrimination in the sale or rental of property. The question of whether damages are recoverable for violations of section 1982 was then left undecided but was subsequently answered in the affirmative. A similar cause of action has been recognized under section 1981 to compensate for private racial discrimination in the formulation and enforcement of contracts. The issue presented in Tillman v. Wheaton-Haven Recreation Association was whether sections 1981 and 1982 impose liability upon the directors of Wheaton-Haven for their racially discriminatory admission policies in view of their diligence to avoid acting contrary to the law.

Recommended Citation

Civil Rights-Corporate Directors Held Personally Liable for Intentional Racial Discrimination Despite Due Diligence to Know the Law, 10 U. Rich. L. Rev. 195 (1975).
Available at: https://scholarship.richmond.edu/lawreview/vol10/iss1/8