Pittman

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 African-American 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 is “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 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…