Las Vegas Domino’s Pizza race-bias case to get Supreme Court hearing

Monday, April 25, 2005 | 11:15 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

The U.S. Supreme Court will use a case involving Domino's Pizza Inc. to consider the scope of a federal civil rights law that bars discrimination in business contracts.

The justices today agreed to hear the pizza delivery chain's bid to block a lawsuit by the black owner of a company that once had contracts to build four Domino's restaurants in Las Vegas. The court will hear arguments in Washington during its 2005-06 term, which starts in October.

The case asks whether the 1866 Civil Rights Act allows discrimination suits by someone who is affected by a contract yet isn't one of the contracting parties. Lower courts around the country are split on that question.

Allen Lichtenstein, an attorney for Las Vegas resident John McDonald, owner of the now-defunct JWM Investments Inc., said the first question is whether McDonald can sue as an individual as well as on behalf of his company. He said that question would need to be decided before the issue of whether Domino's Pizza canceled its contract with JWM Investments Inc. because of racial discrimination.

He said the U.S. District Court ruled that McDonald could not sue on his own behalf, but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that he could.

Tim McIntyre, a Domino's Pizza spokesman, declined to comment on the case.

McDonald said his company filed for bankruptcy in late 2000 as a result of Domino's Pizza's move to cancel the contracts in 2000. He said before this dispute he had successfully built two other Domino's Pizza stores in the Las Vegas Valley. He said he was the landlord for those two stores but was forced to sell them after Domino's canceled its contract to build the other four stores.

McDonald said Domino's Pizza demanded that he agree to a clause in the leases that would allow the company to cancel the lease contracts in 30 days. He said he refused to agree to that and that's when the company canceled the contracts. He attributes the company's actions to racial discrimination.

"Domino's blocked me from opening those stores," McDonald said. "Corporate America doesn't have the right to do what they've done. They put me in bankruptcy. This is a perfect example of corporate America crushing the little guy. "

In the case before the court, the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said McDonald could press his case against Domino's.

McDonald blames race discrimination for the decision by Domino's to cancel the contracts with his company. He says he lost millions of dollars and suffered emotional distress and mental anguish.

Domino's, based in Ann Arbor, Mich., said in its appeal that it canceled the contracts because of "persistent delays" in the construction projects. "

John McDonald

SUING DOMINO'S