§ 5.1.9 ELEVENTH AMENDMENT IMMUNITY – SUITS AGAINST THE STATE OR ITS SUBDIVISIONS

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

§ 5.1.9 Eleventh Amendment Immunity – Suits Against the State or Its Subdivisions. The Eleventh Amendment generally prohibits suits against a state in federal court unless the state has specifically consented or waived its Eleventh Amendment immunity. Eleventh Amendment immunity does not extend to local governmental units such as cities and counties.⁶³ Before filing suit against the State of Arizona or its subdivisions in federal court, the alert practitioner will research carefully whether the federal court has jurisdiction to hear the case. The federal court is without authority to remand such matters originally filed in federal court to the state court.⁶⁴ The federal court will remand only where the case was removed to federal court. The state court would need to invoke principles of equitable tolling in order to review those claims where the statute of limitations for filing a new claim in state court has passed. There is a savings statute, A.R.S. § 12-504, which allows a timely filing within six months of the date of termination. A matter may be filed in Arizona Superior Court that was previously timely filed in Arizona District Court and dismissed. This practice is in keeping with the opinion of the Arizona Court of Appeals in Templer v. Zele.⁶⁵

The U.S. Supreme Court in Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida⁶⁶ restated that the Eleventh Amendment prevents congressional authorization of suits by private parties against unconsenting States. The Eleventh Amendment restricts judicial power under Article III, and Article I cannot be used to circumvent the constitutional limitations placed upon federal jurisdiction.

The Seminole Tribe of Florida ruling overturned Pennsylvania v. Union Gas,⁶⁷ wherein the U.S. Supreme Court had decided that the Commerce Clause granted Congress the power to abrogate state sovereign immunity, thereby providing federal courts with jurisdiction in cases involving federal statutes passed pursuant to Congress's power under the Commerce Clause. For example, suits against a state for violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act could be filed in federal court. The ruling in Seminole Tribe of Florida no longer allows for federal jurisdiction of such claims against the state.

The U.S. Supreme Court has specifically examined the Eleventh Amendment immunity for the ADAAA. The Court found that Eleventh Amendment barred such suits for money damages under Title I of the ADA. The ADA was not a proper use of the Commerce Clause by Congress as there was no overriding evidence that there was unconstitutional discrimination by states against the disabled, only anecdotal evidence.⁶⁸ Similarly, the Court found the Age Discrimination in Employment Act is not appropriate legislation under § 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment. "The ADEA's purported abrogation of the States' sovereign immunity is accordingly invalid." The...