F ILED U.S. CO URT OF AP P EALS ELEVENTH CI RCUIT Janua ry 6 , 20 09 THO MAS K . KAHN CLERK [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UN ITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELE VENTH CIRCUIT

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ No. 0 8- 12 60 3 Non -Arg um en t Ca le nd ar

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ D.C. Dock etNo. 0 5- 01 04 9- CV-T-N ROBINA J ENKINS, Pl ai nt iff -Ap pe ll an t,
ve rs us NANCY L. W ORLEY, ind iv idua ll y an d i n h er capa ci ty as Secr et ary of

Sta te , State of Al ab am a, JOE DICKSON, HARRY MC MILLAN, HORACE W . POW ELL, SR., JOYCE P. O'NEAL, in di vi du al ly andinth ei r cap aci ty as m em be rs of t he Sta te Pers on ne l Bo ard , et al ., Defen da nt s- App el le es .

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ App eal fro m

th e Uni te d S ta te s Di st ric t Co urt fo r th e Mi dd le Dis tri ctof Al ab am a

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ (Ja nua ry 6, 2 00 9) Befo re BI RCH, HULL andCOX, Circ ui t J ud ge s. PER CURI AM:Pl ai nt iff Ro bi naJen ki ns was e m

pl oyed b y th e Alabam a Sec ret ary of Sta te ’s of fic e as a Dep art m en ta l Pr og ram Man ag er. Dur in g ast at e-wi de bu dg etcri si s i n 20 03 , sh e was lai d o ff. Nan cy L. W or le y

was the ap po in ti ng au th or ity withi n the Secr et ary of

Sta te ’s off

ic e, an d the pe rs on who in fo rm edJen ki ns th atsh e was lai d of f. In J ul y 20 05 , Jen ki ns pe ti ti on edth e St at e Per so nn el Bo ard(“ th e Bo ard ”) fo r a he ari ng reg ard in g the pro pr ie ty of th e la y -o ff an d wh ethe r W or le y ha d im pe rm is si bl y

hi redan ot he r em

pl oyee to fil l J en ki ns ’s po si ti on aft er J en ki ns was la idoff . The Bo ardres po nd edbo th th atJen ki ns ’s pet it io n was un ti m el y an d t ha t th e Bo ardha d c on du ct eda rev ie w of i ts reco rd s an d c ou ldfin d n o fa ctua l s up po rt fo r Je nk in s’s cl ai m s. InOcto be r 20 05 , Jen ki ns fil eda la wsu itinth e Mo nt go m ery Co un ty Circu it Co urt, al le gi ng th atW or le y an d t he ot he r Defen da nt s, al l m em be rs of the Bo ard , ha d v io la te d Al ab am a’s Mer itSy st em Act an d d ep riv edJen ki ns of h er p ro pe rty in te res t i n h er job , invi ol at io n o f th e Fo urte en th Am en dm en t o f th e Uni te d S ta te s Co ns ti tu ti on . The Defe nd an ts rem ov edth e cas e to fed eral co urt. (R.1 -1 .) The
m ag is tra te jud ge de ni edJen ki ns ’s m ot io n fo r rem an d t o s ta te co urt an d l at er gr an te d Def

en da nt s’ m ot io n fo r su m

m ary jud gm en t o n a ll of J en ki ns ’s cla im s. 1

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c) (1), the parties consented to entry of final judgment by the 1 mag istrate judg e. 2Je nk in s ap pe al s, ar gu in g tha t the fed eral co urt l ack edsubjec t m at te r juri sd ic ti on

an d tha t g enui ne is su es of m at eri al factm ad e su m m ary jud gm en t i napp ro pr ia te . Fi rs t, we co ns id er the juri sd ic ti on al is su e. Afte r rev ie w of the pl ead in gs , we
co nc lu de th atth e fed eral co urt h adjuri sd ic ti on . Purs uantto 28 U.S.C. § 1 44 1( b) , anact io n tha t “ ari s[ es ] un de r th e Co ns ti tu ti on , tre at ie s o r laws o f th e Uni te d St at es ” is ge ne ral ly rem ov ab le . Each a ndev ery co un t o f Je nk in s’s co m pl ai nt al le ge s a v io la ti onof t he Fo urte en thAm en dm en t o f th e Uni te d S ta te s Co ns ti tu ti on . Jen ki ns ’s arg um en t tha t the se cla im s ar e p eri ph eral to he r st at e cl ai m s i s i ns uf

fic ie ntto de pr iv e th e fed eral co urts of s ub ject m at te r juri sd ic ti on . Rem ov al was p ro pe r. On the m eri ts , we fin d tha t s umm ary jud gm en t fo r th e Defen da nt s al so was pr op er fo r th e rea so ns st at edinth e m ag is tra te jud ge ’s Mem or an du m Opi ni on an d Ord er. (R.3 -5 0 a t 1 1- 13 .) Fo r th e fo reg oi ng reas on s, s umm ary jud gm en t fo r th e Defen da nt s i s affi rm ed
. AFFIRMED.

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