Section 1981 claims can be brought in at-will employment situations. Moghadam v. Morris, 87 F.Supp.2d 1255, 1262 (N.D.Fla.2000). Section 1981 claims can also be brought against individuals who are not the employers of a plaintiff, if the individual interfered with a plaintiff's contract rights with third parties. Martinez v. Pavex Corp., 422 F.Supp.2d 1284, 1291 (M.D.Fla.2006) (citing Zaklama v. Mt. Sinai Med. Ctr., 842 F.2d 291, 294–95 (11th Cir.1988)).
In the context of employment discrimination, the plaintiff must demonstrate that the municipality had a custom or practice of discrimination "so well-settled and pervasive that it assumes the force of law." Moghadam v. Morris, 87 F. Supp. 2d 1255, 1264 (N.D. Fla. 2000) (citing Sewell v. Town of Lake Hamilton, 117 F.3d 488, 489 (11th Cir. 1997)). To establish a practice of discrimination through evidence of "disparate impact" on employees of a particular race, plaintiffs must present "strong statistical evidence of disparate impact coupled with anecdotal evidence of the employer's intent to treat the protected class unequally."
First, as an Iranian, she is a member of a protected class. See Moghadam v. Morris, 87 F. Supp.2d 1255, 1263 (N.D. Fla. 2000) (Vinson, C.J.) (undisputed that plaintiff of Iranian descent was within protected class based on national origin). Second, the record shows that she was qualified for her position: she is a doctor, she trained as a forensic pathologist, and she has experience in the field of forensic pathology.