Tenth Circuit Declines to Weigh in on Split Re Impact of 1991 amendments to § 1981

Per the Tenth Circuit in Maldonado v. City of Altus, --- F.3d ----, 2006 WL 52805 (10th Cir. Jan. 11, 2006):

In Burns v. Bd. of County Comm'rs, 330 F.3d 1275, 1288 n. 10 (10th Cir.2003), we recognized a circuit split over whether the 1991 amendments to § 1981 overruled Jett v. Dallas Indep. Sch. Dist., 491 U.S. 701, 733, 109 S.Ct. 2702, 105 L.Ed.2d 598 (1989), which held that “the express cause of action for damages created by § 1983 constitutes the exclusive federal remedy for violation of the rights guaranteed in § 1981 by state governmental units.” Burns did not resolve the issue for this circuit, nor will we. Because we affirm qualified immunity for the individual defendants on the § 1981 and § 1983 claims and because the City did not raise this argument, we do not address this issue.