Lee S. FONG, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC., Defendant-Appellee

In this appeal, plaintiff-appellant Fong challenges the district court’s- summary judgment in favor of defendant-appellee American Airlines. Fong brought this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 alleging that American Airlines had discriminated against him on the basis of his race when it discharged him for theft of company property. Fong did not dispute the theft or that it violated an established airline rule of which he was aware, but alleged that the airline’s rule requiring discharge for theft was selectively enforced on the basis of race. The trial court found that Fong had failed to show that the discharge was prompted by a racially discriminatory motive and therefore the plaintiff had failed to make out the prima facie case of discrimination required under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 . We have jurisdiction of this appeal under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291 and 1343(4). We affirm.

I.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

There is no genuine dispute regarding the facts of Fong’s employment and the events leading up to his discharge. Fong was employed by American Airlines for more than 17 years as an airplane mechanic. On December 28, 1974, at about 5:00 a.m., a Japan Airlines security guard observed Fong entering an…