Under §1981, is a Middle-Eastern Iranian a race? What evidence or characteristics does an appellant need to provide to prove his race? How to determine if an employer's reference to the employee's protected trait when making an unfavorable employment decision is direct discrimination? How to define "similarly situated" to show pretext at institutions of higher education with a tenure system, and if the Eleventh Circuit's examples of "a valid comparison" should be adopted by other courts to eliminate the arbitrary definition of "similarly situated" comparators by the courts? What determines if the university's published tenure and promotion guidelines (T&P) and procedures are binding and if the post-hoc depositions of ex-university officials override the university's published guidelines and procedures? Finally, under §1981, should one read the discrimination broadly to include a retaliation theory? In particular, because there is no separate provision of section 1981 that prohibits retaliation, where it is difficult for any litigant (mainly a pro se plaintiff) to discern that theory, do they need to plead retaliation in a separate count in the complaint?

Whether a Middle-Eastern Iranian is considered a race under §1981 and what evidence is needed to prove racial discrimination in academic tenure decisions