Opinion ID: 2390524
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Constitutional Sovereign Immunity

Text: Beichler's action is not barred by the constitutional immunity provisions found in W.Va. Const. art. VI, § 35, which states, in part, that the State shall never be made defendant in any court of law or equity[.] As indicated above, Beichler's underlying claim is that he was not fully compensated for his teaching services. His action involves accounting issues concerning alleged unpaid wages, a matter squarely within the scope and reach of the Wage Payment and Collection Act. In Gribben v. Kirk, 195 W.Va. 488, 493, 466 S.E.2d 147, 152 (1995), this Court observed that appellate courts review questions involving principles of sovereign immunity de novo.  In the Gribben opinion, this Court restated the principle that the sovereign immunity doctrine is not implicated in the context of employee relations where the State, acting through its agents, as an employer, has unlawfully withheld all or a part of an employee's salary[.] 195 W.Va. at 495, 466 S.E.2d at 154. See also, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees v. CSC of W.Va., 176 W.Va. 73, 79, 341 S.E.2d 693, 699 (1985). As this Court explained in Ingram, supra : Accordingly, we do not hesitate to find that the Legislature did not intend to bind private employers to certain wage payment and collection guidelines designed to protect workers, yet exclude State and political subdivision workers from such protections. Rather, we conclude that the Legislature intended its statutory wage payment and collection guidelines to apply to both governmental and nongovernmental employers alike. 208 W.Va. at 356, 540 S.E.2d at 573. It follows from Gribben and Ingram, and this Court now holds, that article VI, § 35, of the Constitution of West Virginia, concerning this State's sovereign immunity, does not bar the claim of a State employee for unpaid wages asserted under the West Virginia Wage Payment and Collection Act, W.Va. Code, 21-5-1 (1987), et seq., whether the claim is initiated through the administrative remedies provided under the Wage Payment and Collection Act or initiated by filing a complaint for the unpaid wages directly in circuit court. See, Gribben, supra, 195 W.Va. at 496, 466 S.E.2d at 155 (indicating that article VI, § 35, is not implicated where a State employee, hired on particular terms and entitled to be paid according to certain criteria, seeks to collect such an obvious legal debt).