PUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

CHRISTOPHER T. LIZZI, 

Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.

ROBERT ALEXANDER; CHARLES

THOMAS; PHILLIP WALLACE; ANTHONY

JOHNSON; AL MCCOY; DENNISE

KURTZ,

Defendants-Appellants,  No. 00-2103

and

WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA

TRANSIT AUTHORITY; JACK BYRD;

MICHAEL KURTZ,

Defendants.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Movant. 
CHRISTOPHER T. LIZZI, 

Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

ROBERT ALEXANDER; CHARLES

THOMAS; PHILLIP WALLACE; ANTHONY

JOHNSON; AL MCCOY; DENNISE

KURTZ; WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN

AREA TRANSIT AUTHORITY; JACK  No. 00-2104

BYRD,

Defendants-Appellees,

and

MICHAEL KURTZ,

Defendant.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Movant. 

2 LIZZI v. ALEXANDER
CHRISTOPHER T. LIZZI, 

Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.

ROBERT ALEXANDER; CHARLES

THOMAS; PHILLIP WALLACE; ANTHONY

JOHNSON; AL MCCOY; DENNISE

KURTZ,

Defendants-Appellants,  No. 00-2126

and

WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA

TRANSIT AUTHORITY; JACK BYRD;

MICHAEL KURTZ,

Defendants.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Movant. 

Appeals from the United States District Court

for the District of Maryland, at Greenbelt.

Deborah K. Chasanow, District Judge.

(CA-98-2660-DKC)

Argued: April 4, 2001

Decided: June 20, 2001

Before WILKINSON, Chief Judge, and LUTTIG and

GREGORY, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded by published opinion. Chief Judge Wilkinson wrote the opinion, in which Judge Luttig

and Judge Gregory joined. 

LIZZI v. ALEXANDER 3
COUNSEL

ARGUED: Gerard J. Stief, Associate General Counsel, WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA TRANSIT AUTHORITY, Washington, D.C., for Appellants. Paul Francis Evelius, WRIGHT,

CONSTABLE & SKEEN, L.L.P., Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellee.

ON BRIEF: Cheryl C. Burke, General Counsel, Robert J. Kniaz,

Deputy General Counsel, Sonia A. Bacchus, Assistant General Counsel, WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA TRANSIT

AUTHORITY, Washington, D.C., for Appellants.

OPINION

WILKINSON, Chief Judge: 

In this case, we must decide whether the Eleventh Amendment

shields the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority

(WMATA), an agency created by interstate compact, from plaintiff

Christopher Lizzi’s assertions that the agency violated the Family and

Medical Leave Act (FMLA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 2601 et seq. (1994). We

also must decide the related question of whether sovereign immunity

bars Lizzi’s allegation that several individual employees of WMATA

violated the FMLA and are thus subject to personal liability for the

alleged damages. The district court held that the Eleventh Amendment bars Lizzi’s claims against WMATA, but that the FMLA permits Lizzi to bring an action against the employees of WMATA in

their individual capacities. Because sovereign immunity extends to

WMATA, and because the claims against the WMATA employees

are in reality claims against the agency itself, we affirm in part,

reverse in part, and remand with directions to dismiss the action. 

I.

A.

Plaintiff Christopher Lizzi worked as a bus wheelchair lift

mechanic for WMATA until September, 1997. WMATA fired Lizzi

for allegedly combining sick days and vacation leave to miss work for

4 LIZZI v. ALEXANDER
the entire summer. WMATA maintained that Lizzi fabricated his sick

leave and did not submit to a medical exam, as required by the agency’s policies. Lizzi contested this, and filed suit under the FMLA

alleging that WMATA terminated him in violation of the Act. 

Lizzi sued WMATA as well as seven individual supervisors at

WMATA. The complaint stated that "Plaintiff Christopher T. Lizzi

sues defendants Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority,

Robert Alexander, Charles Thomas, Anthony Johnson, Michael

Kurtz, Phillip Wallace, Al McCoy, and Jack Byrd." The complaint

further declared that the individual defendants "have, at all relevant

times, been employees of WMATA." The complaint also noted the

supervisory positions of some of these defendants. McCoy and Byrd

were Garage Shift Supervisors; Johnson oversaw the Garage Shift

Supervisors; Alexander was WMATA’s Absenteeism Supervisor; and

Kurtz was WMATA’s Bus Maintenance Superintendent. The complaint did not specify the positions of either Thomas or Wallace. Lizzi

asked for, inter alia, reinstatement, back pay, damages, and an order

prohibiting the defendants from violating the FMLA. 

The district court granted summary judgment for WMATA on

Eleventh Amendment grounds, but kept the individual defendants in

the case. The lower court held that the WMATA compact does not

waive the agency’s Eleventh Amendment immunity, and that the

FMLA is not a valid exercise of Congress’ Fourteenth Amendment,

§ 5 power. But the court also held that the FMLA specifically defines

"employer" to include supervisors, and thus the plain language of the

FMLA authorizes suits against the individual employees in their individual capacities. The district court certified for interlocutory appeal

the issues of WMATA’s waiver of immunity and the liability of the

individual defendants under the FMLA. WMATA appeals the decision to keep the individual supervisors in the case, and Lizzi crossappeals the district court’s decision that the compact does not waive

WMATA’s sovereign immunity. 

B.

WMATA is an interstate compact agency and instrumentality of

Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Its purpose is to

ensure the proper functioning and operation of a mass transit system

LIZZI v. ALEXANDER 5
in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. See Morris v. WMATA,

781 F.2d 218, 219 (D.C. Cir. 1986). WMATA receives approximately

44% of its budget from the signatory states. The WMATA compact

was approved by Congress in 1966. See Washington Metropolitan

Area Transit Authority Compact, Pub. L. No. 89-774, 80 Stat. 1324

(1966). 

Three sections of the compact are at the heart of this case. First,

§ 12 states that WMATA may "[s]ue and be sued." Id. at 1328. Second, § 80 declares that WMATA 

shall be liable for its contracts and for its torts and those of

its Directors, officers, employees and agent [sic] committed

in the conduct of any proprietary function, in accordance

with the law of the applicable signatory (including rules on

conflict of laws), but shall not be liable for any torts occurring in the performance of a governmental function. The

exclusive remedy for such breach of contracts and torts for

which the Authority shall be liable, as herein provided, shall

be by suit against the Authority. Nothing contained in this

title shall be construed as a waiver by the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, and the counties and cities within

the zone of any immunity from suit. 

Id. at 1350. Third, § 81 says in pertinent part: 

The United States District Courts shall have original jurisdiction, concurrent with the Courts of Maryland and Virginia, of all actions brought by or against [WMATA] and to

enforce subpoenas issued under [this compact]. Any such

action initiated in a State Court shall be removable to the

appropriate United States District Court. 

Id.

II.

A.

We note at the outset that WMATA possesses Eleventh Amendment immunity. The signatories of the compact intended to confer

6 LIZZI v. ALEXANDER
Eleventh Amendment immunity on WMATA. See Delon Hampton &

Assoc. v. WMATA, 943 F.2d 355, 359 (4th Cir. 1991). Further, both

this circuit and the D.C. Circuit have held that Eleventh Amendment

immunity may attach to WMATA’s actions. See id. at 359; Morris,

781 F.2d at 220. WMATA is a state agency, subject to all the benefits

and liabilities of a state itself, including sovereign immunity. See

Morris, 781 F.2d at 219-20. It does not matter that WMATA was created by interstate compact, as opposed to being an agency of one state

alone. See Delon Hampton, 943 F.2d at 359; Jones v. WMATA, 205

F.3d 428, 432 (D.C. Cir. 2000). 

In Hess v. Port Auth. Trans-Hudson Corp., 513 U.S. 30 (1994), the

Supreme Court held that the Port Authority Trans-Hudson, an interstate compact entity, could not claim sovereign immunity. See Hess,

513 U.S. at 52-53. But the Court in Hess relied heavily on the fact

that the Port Authority did not receive any funding from any state.

Instead, it was a "self-sustaining" agency. Id. at 50. Indeed, the Court

in Hess specifically distinguished the Port Authority from WMATA

because WMATA was not self-sufficient. Id. at 49-50. Thus, the conferral of Eleventh Amendment immunity on WMATA "is compatible" with the holding in Hess. Id. at 50 n.20. 

B.

Lizzi argues that under Port Auth. Trans-Hudson Corp. v. Feeney,

495 U.S. 299 (1990), §§ 12 and 81 of the WMATA Compact read

together effect a waiver of the agency’s Eleventh Amendment immunity. 

In Feeney, the Supreme Court ruled that an interstate compact

entity, the Port Authority Trans-Hudson, had given its consent to suit

in federal court. See 495 U.S. at 308-09. The statutory consent to suit

provision in Feeney proclaimed that the states gave "consent to suits,

actions, or proceedings of any form or nature at law, in equity or otherwise . . . against the Port of New York Authority." Id. at 306 (internal quotations omitted) (alteration in original). This provision

standing alone, although "broadly framed," may have reflected "only

a State’s consent to suit in its own courts." Id. The Court thus looked

at the venue provision of the compact, which stated that venue "shall

be laid within a county or judicial district, established by one of said

LIZZI v. ALEXANDER 7
States or by the United States . . . ." Id. at 307 (internal quotations

omitted). Since the venue provision explicitly referred to federal

courts, the Court held that the statutory consent to suit provision must

encompass both federal and state courts. See id. at 307-09. 

Lizzi argues that the similar provisions in the WMATA compact

also effect a waiver of Eleventh Amendment immunity. Section 12

states that WMATA may "[s]ue and be sued." 80 Stat. at 1328. And

§ 81 makes clear that venue is proper in federal court. Thus, Lizzi

maintains that under the reasoning of Feeney, WMATA must have

waived its Eleventh Amendment immunity. 

We disagree. Even were we to assume that WMATA’s consent to

suit provision is coextensive with the broader consent to suit provision in Feeney, Lizzi’s argument has one fatal flaw: § 80 of the

WMATA compact "specifically and expressly delineates the scope of

WMATA’s consent to be sued." Morris, 781 F.2d at 222 n.3. Feeney

is not applicable here because it did not confront the situation in this

case — a compact containing another clause specifically addressing

the extent to which an agency waives its sovereign immunity. Morris

involved a suit brought by an officer contending that WMATA discriminatorily discharged him. The Morris court disallowed the plaintiff’s suit, even though the case arose under federal law, because § 80

did not waive WMATA’s Eleventh Amendment immunity. See id. at

219-21. Since Morris, the District of Columbia Circuit has consistently held that the WMATA compact does not waive the agency’s

Eleventh Amendment immunity. See, e.g., Jones, 205 F.3d at 432

(suit brought under the ADEA dismissed due to WMATA’s Eleventh

Amendment immunity); Beebe v. WMATA, 129 F.3d 1283, 1285-86

(D.C. Cir. 1997) (suit alleging, inter alia, constructive discharge dismissed due to WMATA’s sovereign immunity); Souders v. WMATA,

48 F.3d 546, 551 (D.C. Cir. 1995) (nuisance suit dismissed due to

WMATA’s Eleventh Amendment immunity); Sanders v. WMATA,

819 F.2d 1151, 1153-56 (D.C. Cir. 1987) (suit alleging negligent termination and violation of federal statute dismissed due to WMATA’s

sovereign immunity). 

Lizzi argues in response to this multitude of cases that the D.C.

Circuit is wrong, and that § 80 is applicable only to claims arising

under state law. We agree with the Morris line of cases, however.

8 LIZZI v. ALEXANDER
Any waiver of Eleventh Amendment immunity must be clear and

unequivocal. See Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U.S. 651, 673 (1974). The

text of § 80 indicates that the WMATA compact provides only for a

limited waiver of sovereign immunity. The compact explicitly waives

WMATA’s sovereign immunity for breaches of contract and for torts

"committed in the conduct of any proprietary function." 80 Stat. at

1350. There is no contention that the exercise of authority at issue in

this suit was in any sense a tort or a contract "committed in the conduct of any proprietary function." Rather, hiring, training, and supervision practices are governmental functions. See Beebe, 129 F.3d at

1287. This case therefore does not fit within the scope of WMATA’s

limited waiver of sovereign immunity. 

The compact evinces an intent that the agency does not waive its

immunity in all other cases. It is thus unavailing to argue that §§ 12

and 81 effected a broad waiver of Eleventh Amendment immunity

when § 80 makes so clear the limited nature of any such waiver. Reliance solely upon the sue and be sued clause and the venue clause, as

Lizzi urges us to do, "would be particularly inappropriate" in this case

because "another section of the Compact, § 80," delineates the entire

scope of WMATA’s waiver of its sovereign immunity. Morris, 781

F.2d at 222 n.3. Lizzi cannot use the combination of §§ 12 and 81 to

create a waiver that § 80 itself does not provide. Indeed, "it is a commonplace of statutory construction that the specific governs the general." Morales v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 504 U.S. 374, 384

(1992). Finally, we agree with the D.C. Circuit that nothing in the

WMATA compact purports to waive the agency’s Eleventh Amendment immunity in all cases under federal law. See Jones, 205 F.3d at

430; Morris, 781 F.2d at 221. Our reading of the compact is not only

faithful to its language; it also renders circuit law consistent in the two

federal circuits most likely to hear cases in which WMATA is a party.

C.

The only remaining reason why WMATA would be subject to suit

is if the FMLA validly abrogates the agency’s Eleventh Amendment

immunity. The district court ruled that the FMLA did not abrogate

WMATA’s Eleventh Amendment immunity. We agree. 

The Supreme Court has enunciated a two-part test for determining

whether an act of Congress abrogates a state’s Eleventh Amendment

LIZZI v. ALEXANDER 9
immunity. First, Congress must unequivocally declare an intent to

abrogate. Second, Congress must act pursuant to a valid exercise of

its power. See Seminole Tribe of Fla. v. Florida, 517 U.S. 44, 55

(1996). We assume for purposes of this decision that Congress has

declared its unequivocal intent to abrogate. The FMLA states that an

action may be maintained "against any employer (including a public

agency) in any Federal or State court of competent jurisdiction. . . ."

29 U.S.C. § 2617(a)(2). Cf. Kimel v. Florida Bd. of Regents, 528 U.S.

62, 73-74 (2000) (holding that identical language in the Age Discrimination in Employment Act constitutes an unmistakably clear attempt

by Congress to abrogate a state’s Eleventh Amendment immunity). 

Congress must also have the proper constitutional authority to

abrogate, however. Since Seminole Tribe, the Court has made clear

that Congress cannot abrogate Eleventh Amendment immunity using

its Article I powers. See, e.g., Board of Tr. of the Univ. of Ala. v. Garrett, 121 S. Ct. 955, 962 (2001) ("Congress may not, of course, base

its abrogation of the States’ Eleventh Amendment immunity upon the

powers enumerated in Article I."); id. (collecting cases since Seminole

Tribe); see also South Carolina State Ports Auth. v. Federal Mar.

Comm’n, 243 F.3d 165, 168 (4th Cir. 2001). Only under its Fourteenth Amendment, § 5 power can Congress validly abrogate a state’s

immunity from private suit. See Garrett, 121 S. Ct. at 962; South Carolina Ports, 243 F.3d at 177. 

Legislation properly enacted under § 5 must be congruent and proportional to the Fourteenth Amendment injury being remedied. City

of Boerne v. Flores, 521 U.S. 507, 520 (1997); Kimel, 528 U.S. at 81;

Garrett, 121 S. Ct. at 963. The Supreme Court has held that both the

Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act were not validly enacted under Congress’ § 5 power

because "the remedy imposed by Congress" was not "congruent and

proportional to the targeted violation." Garrett, 121 S. Ct. at 967-68

(ADA); accord Kimel, 528 U.S. at 82-83 (ADEA). 

Thus, the issue here is whether the FMLA is congruent and proportional to the identified Fourteenth Amendment violation — employment discrimination on the basis of sex. The statute identifies gender

discrimination as the constitutional harm to be remedied by the

FMLA. The FMLA states that its purpose is to "minimize[ ] the

10 LIZZI v. ALEXANDER
potential for employment discrimination on the basis of sex by ensuring generally that leave is available for eligible medical reasons

(including maternity-related disability) and for compelling family reasons, on a gender neutral basis" and in a manner "consistent with the

Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment." 29 U.S.C.

§ 2601(b)(4); see also Chittister v. Department of Cmty. and Econ.

Dev., 226 F.3d 223, 228 (3d Cir. 2000). In making this finding of purpose, Congress did not identify, as it is required to do, any pattern of

gender discrimination by the states with respect to the granting of

employment leave for the purpose of providing family or medical

care. See Garrett, 121 S. Ct. at 964-65. As the Third Circuit has

stated, "Notably absent is any finding concerning the existence, much

less the prevalence, in public employment of personal sick leave practices that amounted to intentional gender discrimination in violation

of the Equal Protection Clause." Chittister, 226 F.3d at 228-29. 

Moreover, the FMLA is simply not narrowly tailored to redress the

asserted Fourteenth Amendment harm of gender discrimination.

While Congress has broad latitude to act, it does not have the constitutional power to pass such a sweeping statute on the basis of the purported Fourteenth Amendment violation. The difficulty is that the

FMLA bestows on private parties a broad-ranging substantive entitlement to sue states for a range of personnel practices without any finding that the states were culpable of an Equal Protection violation to

begin with. That the FMLA sweeps far beyond the redress of gender

discrimination is evident in the breadth of the entitlement to subject

a state to suit. Instead of attempting to remedy the identified violation,

Congress attempted to redefine the right. As the district court noted,

the FMLA "exceeds Congress’s power under the Fourteenth Amendment by attempting to define specifically what equal protection means

rather than merely remedy an existing constitutional violation." 

The FMLA "does much more than require nondiscriminatory sick

leave practices; it creates a substantive entitlement to sick leave."

Chittister, 226 F.3d at 229. The Act imposes on the states a federally

devised standard entitling employees to "12 workweeks of leave during any 12-month period." 29 U.S.C. § 2612(a)(1). The Act also

allows any person to subject a state to private suit for violating the

statute. Id. § 2617(a)(2). The Fourteenth Amendment does not allow

Congress to prescribe a privately enforceable guarantee to all state

LIZZI v. ALEXANDER 11
employees of at least twelve weeks of leave per year. See, e.g., Chittister, 226 F.3d at 228-29; Garrett v. University of Ala. at Birmingham Bd. of Tr., 193 F.3d 1214, 1219 (11th Cir. 1999), rev’d on other

grounds, 121 S. Ct. at 968. 

In sum, the substantive requirements of the FMLA are "‘so out of

proportion to a supposed remedial or preventive object that it cannot

be understood as responsive to, or designed to prevent, unconstitutional behavior.’" Kimel, 528 U.S. at 82 (quoting City of Boerne, 521

U.S. at 532). Indeed, every circuit to examine this issue has identified

this fundamental lack of proportionality as a main reason why the

FMLA is not a valid abrogation of a state’s Eleventh Amendment

immunity from suit. See, e.g., Townsel v. Missouri, 233 F.3d 1094,

1095 (8th Cir. 2000); Chittister, 226 F.3d at 229 (legislative scheme

not "tailored to preventing any [constitutional] harm"); Kazmier v.

Widmann, 225 F.3d 519, 526 (5th Cir. 2000) ("Broad, prophylactic

legislation must be congruent with and proportional to actual, identified constitutional violations by the States."); Sims v. University of

Cincinnati, 219 F.3d 559, 566 (6th Cir. 2000); Hale v. Mann, 219

F.3d 61, 69 (2d Cir. 2000) ("There is no evidence that this conferment

of federally protected leave is tailored to remedy sex-based employment discrimination."); Garrett, 193 F.3d at 1219. We agree with all

of our sister circuits. The FMLA does not validly abrogate a state’s

Eleventh Amendment immunity from suit. 

III.

WMATA and the individual defendants appeal the district court’s

determination that the FMLA allows suits against individual supervisors in their individual capacities. In support of this result, the district

court pointed to the fact that the FMLA’s definition of "employer"

includes "any person who acts, directly or indirectly, in the interest

of an employer to any of the employees of such employer." 29 U.S.C.

§ 2611(4)(A)(ii)(I). WMATA argues preliminarily, however, that the

individual defendants in essence have been sued for damages in their

official capacities rather than their individual capacities.1

1

In view of our resolution of this issue, we do not address the question

of whether, in an action against a private employer, an individual supervisor is subject to personal liability for violating the FMLA. 

12 LIZZI v. ALEXANDER
"Only States and state officers acting in their official capacity are

immune from suits for damages in federal court." Buckhannon Board

& Care Home, Inc. v. West Virginia Dept. of Health and Human

Resources, 532 U.S. ___, No. 99-1848, slip op. at 10 n.10 (May 29,

2001) (citing Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U.S. 651 (1974)). The Supreme

Court has declared that the "Eleventh Amendment bars a suit against

state officials when ‘the state is the real, substantial party in interest.’"

Pennhurst State School & Hosp. v. Halderman, 465 U.S. 89, 101

(1984) (quoting Ford Motor Co. v. Department of Treas. of Ind., 323

U.S. 459, 464 (1945)). The Supreme Court has also made clear that

a suit for damages against individual officers in their official capacities is treated like a suit against the state itself. See, e.g., Pennhurst,

465 U.S. at 101; Idaho v. Coeur d’Alene Tribe of Idaho, 521 U.S.

261, 270 (1997). Thus, if Lizzi has sued the individual supervisors in

their official capacities, the employees would be entitled to the same

Eleventh Amendment immunity that WMATA itself retains. 

Here, Lizzi’s complaint makes clear that the state is the real party

in interest. Lizzi’s complaint named seven individuals as well as

WMATA. The complaint, however, never stated whether the individuals were being sued in their official or individual capacities. Moreover, the allegations in the complaint recounted how WMATA as an

agency decided to fire Lizzi. Any actions of the individual defendants

were tied inextricably to their official duties. For example, the complaint recounted that "WMATA told [Lizzi]" that he was under investigation after "defendant Alexander, WMATA’s Absenteeism

Supervisor, recommended in writing to defendant Kurtz, WMATA’s

Bus Maintenance Superintendent, that plaintiff be terminated." The

complaint made no showing of any ultra vires action taken by any

individual employee. And a conclusory allegation that the "defendants" were motivated by "spite" and "ill will" is not enough, standing

alone, to maintain an FMLA action against these supervisors in their

individual capacities. 

Indeed, even if Lizzi had actually used the phrase "individual

capacity," his complaint could not stand. In Bender v. Williamsport

Area Sch. Dist., 475 U.S. 534 (1985), the Supreme Court emphasized

that the mere incantation of the term "individual capacity" is not

enough to transform an official capacity action into an individual

capacity action. See 475 U.S. at 543. Here, Lizzi’s complaint is

LIZZI v. ALEXANDER 13
weaker than Bender’s because the complaint does not even state that

the defendants are being sued in their individual capacities. Rather,

the complaint used the defendants’ work address as the address of

record and spoke of the individual defendants by name only passingly

and in relation to the jobs that they performed at WMATA. The other

court to examine the individual-capacity question with regard to

FMLA suits against state employees had no difficulty in holding that

the real party in interest in these lawsuits is the state, not the individual defendants. See Kazmier, 225 F.3d at 533 n.65. 

Lizzi argues, however, that Hafer v. Melo, 502 U.S. 21 (1991),

requires that the claims against the individual supervisors should be

treated as an individual-capacity suit. In Hafer, the Court held that 42

U.S.C. § 1983 permits individual capacity suits against state officers

for damages arising from official acts. See Hafer, 502 U.S. at 23. We

think, however, that Hafer is inapposite. Hafer was based on "the

broad language of § 1983." Id. at 28. Unlike § 1983, the FMLA is not

focused against those who carry the "badge of authority of a State."

Hafer, 502 U.S. at 28 (internal quotations omitted). Whereas § 1983

is intended as a broad enforcement vehicle to bring suit against state

officials for violations of all other federal statutory and constitutional

rights, the FMLA is focused on creating a set of statutory entitlements

in its own right. See, e.g., 29 U.S.C. § 2612(a). Moreover, the text of

the FMLA does not contain the well established system of immunities

which § 1983 defendants can assert.2

Other considerations militate against interpreting the FMLA to

hold individual state employees personally liable for official acts. To

hold that individual supervisors, as "employers," may be sued under

the statute while also holding that the Constitution prohibits the state

2The issue of whether the FMLA’s remedial scheme is so comprehensive that it preempts the use of § 1983 actions is of course not before us.

See, e.g., Blessing v. Freestone, 520 U.S. 329, 341 (1997) (Congress may

forbid recourse to § 1983 by, inter alia, "creating a comprehensive

enforcement scheme that is incompatible with individual enforcement

under § 1983."); Kilvitis v. County of Luzerne, 52 F. Supp.2d 403, 419

(M.D. Pa. 1999) (The FMLA provides "comprehensive remedial measures that evinces Congress’ intent to foreclose the use of a § 1983

action."). 

14 LIZZI v. ALEXANDER
itself from being sued would undermine the Supreme Court’s decisions in Garrett, Kimel, and Seminole Tribe. Plaintiffs like Lizzi

would easily be able to evade the Eleventh Amendment prohibition

against suing a state merely by naming the individual supervisor as

the employer. We refuse to create such an anomaly. The state would

still suffer the indignity of having each discrete decision regarding

personnel or organizational matters subject to second-guessing by a

federal court. "The real interests served by the Eleventh Amendment

are not to be sacrificed to elementary mechanics of captions and

pleadings." Coeur d’Alene, 521 U.S. at 270. 

A rule permitting such individual liability would do nothing more

than "adhere to an empty formalism and [would] undermine the principle, reaffirmed . . . in Seminole Tribe, that Eleventh Amendment

immunity represents a real limitation on a federal court’s federalquestion jurisdiction." Id. Because WMATA enjoys Eleventh Amendment immunity for claims brought under the FMLA, the individual

supervisors under the FMLA are protected by that same immunity.

See Beebe, 129 F.3d at 1288-89 (individual supervisors of WMATA

have immunity for alleged wrongful termination of employee).

WMATA’s Eleventh Amendment immunity transfers to the supervisors because the individuals were sued in their official capacities for

their official acts. 

IV.

The WMATA compact does not waive the agency’s Eleventh

Amendment immunity from suit. And the FMLA does not validly

abrogate a state’s Eleventh Amendment immunity. Consequently,

Lizzi’s claims against WMATA must be dismissed for lack of subject

matter jurisdiction. Similarly, Lizzi’s claims against the individual

supervisors at WMATA must be dismissed as well because these

claims were in reality an action against the agency itself. The FMLA

does not permit a plaintiff to evade the strictures of sovereign immunity by suing the individual defendants as the employer rather than

the state. For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the district court

is affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded with directions to

dismiss it.

AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART,

AND REMANDED

LIZZI v. ALEXANDER 15