Opinion ID: 62940
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Reinstatement and Ex parte Young

Text: Because the Eleventh Amendment bars suits against states for money damages incurred as a result of violating 29 U.S.C. § 2612(a)(1)(D), we must dismiss Nelson's claim against Daniel in his official capacity unless Nelson can demonstrate an exception to immunity. As noted above, Nelson relies on the exception to Eleventh Amendment immunity created by the Supreme Court in Ex parte Young, 209 U.S. 123, 28 S.Ct. 441, 52 L.Ed. 714 (1908). Pursuant to the Ex parte Young exception, the Eleventh Amendment is not a bar to suits for prospective relief against a state employee acting in his official capacity. Stroman Realty, Inc. v. Wercinski, 513 F.3d 476, 482 (5th Cir.2008), petition for cert. filed, 76 U.S.L.W. 3611 (U.S. May 5, 2008) (No. 07-1387). Thus, prospective injunctive or declaratory relief against a state [official] is permitted ... but retrospective relief in the form of a money judgment in compensation for past wrongs... is barred. Brennan v. Stewart, 834 F.2d 1248, 1253 (5th Cir.1988). Nelson argues that his request for reinstatement is the sort of prospective relief that is permitted by the Ex parte Young doctrine. As shown by Nelson, this circuit has always treated Ex parte Young as an appropriate vehicle for pursuing reinstatement to a previous job position. In Warnock v. Pecos County, we considered a district court's dismissal of a § 1983 action on the basis of Eleventh Amendment immunity. 88 F.3d 341 (5th Cir.1996). There, the plaintiff sought damages, reinstatement, and attorneys' fees from two state judges when they failed to reappoint her to a position that she had previously held. Id. at 343. We agreed that the suit for damages was barred by the Eleventh Amendment, but held that the claim for reinstatement could go forward because it was a claim for prospective relief. Id. Specifically, we stated, Plaintiff's claim for prospective relief (reinstatement), however, is not barred by sovereign immunity. The Eleventh Amendment does not protect state officials from claims for prospective relief when it is alleged that the state officials acted in violation of federal law. Ex parte Young, 209 U.S. 123, 155-56, 28 S.Ct. 441, 452, 52 L.Ed. 714 (1908); Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U.S. 651, 664, 94 S.Ct. 1347, 1356, 39 L.Ed.2d 662 (1974); Brennan v. Stewart, 834 F.2d 1248, 1252 (5th Cir.1988). Id. Thus, we clearly held that a claim for reinstatement was cognizable under Ex parte Young. We followed Warnock in Sternadel v. Scott, No. 00-50106, 2001 WL 563628 (5th Cir. May 7, 2001), and held that a motion to dismiss on the basis of Eleventh Amendment immunity should not have been granted when the plaintiff sought the prospective relief of reinstatement. Id. at . Similarly, in Meekins v. Foster, No. 99-30583, 2000 WL 423356 (5th Cir. Apr. 3, 2000), we noted (and the parties conceded) that reinstatement would qualify as acceptable injunctive relief for Ex parte Young purposes. Id. at . Ours is not the only court to reach such a conclusion, as almost every circuit court has reached the same result. See State Employees Bargaining Agent Coal. v. Rowland, 494 F.3d 71, 96-98 (2d Cir.2007); Meiners v. Univ. of Kan., 359 F.3d 1222, 1232-33 (10th Cir.2004); Koslow v. Pennsylvania, 302 F.3d 161, 179 (3d Cir.2002); Carten v. Kent State Univ., 282 F.3d 391, 396 (6th Cir.2002); Doe v. Lawrence Livermore Nat'l Lab., 131 F.3d 836, 840-42 (9th Cir.1997); Treleven v. Univ. of Minn., 73 F.3d 816, 819 (8th Cir.1996); Coakley v. Welch, 877 F.2d 304, 307 n. 2 (4th Cir. 1989); Elliott v. Hinds, 786 F.2d 298, 302 (7th Cir.1986). Therefore, the great weight of case authority clearly supports treating reinstatement as an acceptable form of prospective relief that may be sought through Ex parte Young.