Employment Litigation · Primary-source case analysis

McDonald: Title VII and Section 1981 Protect Employees of Every Race

By Aneeta Mishra and Timothy Chan

Published August 31, 2026

McDonald v. Santa Fe Trail Transportation Co. involved white employees discharged for alleged cargo theft while a Black employee accused of the same misconduct was retained.

The complaint alleged different discipline for comparable conduct

The discharged employees claimed the employer used race to decide who would lose employment after the same incident.

Title VII’s text applies to any individual

The statute does not permit racial discrimination against one group while forbidding it against another; its protections are not limited to historically disadvantaged plaintiffs.

Section 1981 also reaches discrimination against white persons

The guarantee that all persons enjoy equal contract rights protects against intentional racial discrimination regardless of the claimant’s race.

The claims could proceed

The Court reversed dismissal without deciding whether the employees would prove comparable culpability or discriminatory intent.

Key takeaways

• Apply the same race-discrimination elements regardless of the plaintiff’s race.
• Compare conduct, decisionmakers, and discipline rather than demanding perfect identity.
• Preserve the employer’s contemporaneous reasons.
• Separate pleading sufficiency from ultimate proof.