Opinion ID: 465031
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Basis of Federal Jurisdiction.

Text: 14 This Court has jurisdiction over the United States of America based on the Federal Court [sic] Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1346(b). The Court has jurisdiction over the remaining Defendants based on the doctrine of pendent party jurisdiction. 15 Unlike other subject matter jurisdictional defects, eleventh amendment immunity can be waived. Such waivers, however, must be explicit. See Ford, supra. As will be discussed, infra, the United States Supreme Court has rejected the notion that pendent party jurisdiction enables federal courts to hear cases that would otherwise be barred by the eleventh amendment. Accordingly, we conclude that this pretrial stipulation did not waive the DOT's sovereign immunity claim. 16 Terrell next argues that pendent jurisdiction allows him to sue Florida in federal court. Under United Mineworkers v. Gibbs, 383 U.S. 715, 726, 86 S.Ct. 1130, 1139, 16 L.Ed.2d 218 (1966), when a federal court obtains jurisdiction over a federal claim, it may adjudicate other related claims over which the court otherwise would not have jurisdiction. Pennhurst State School & Hospital v. Halderman, 465 U.S. 89, 104 S.Ct. 900, 917, 79 L.Ed.2d 67 (1984) (citing Gibbs ). There is no question here that the federal court properly has jurisdiction over Terrell's claim against the United States. There is also no question that Terrell's claim against the DOT arises from a common nucleus of operative fact that ordinarily would provide a sufficient basis for the federal courts to exercise pendent party jurisdiction over the DOT. See, e.g., Aldinger v. Howard, 427 U.S. 1, 14, 96 S.Ct. 2413, 2420, 49 L.Ed.2d 276 (1976) (citing Gibbs ). In Pennhurst, however, the Supreme Court explicitly held that neither pendent jurisdiction nor any other basis of jurisdiction may override the Eleventh Amendment. 104 S.Ct. at 919. The Court explained that: 17 [P]endent jurisdiction is a judge-made doctrine of expediency and efficiency derived from the general Art. III language conferring power to hear all cases arising under federal law or between diverse parties. The Eleventh Amendment should not be construed to apply with less force to this implied form of jurisdiction than it does to the explicitly granted power to hear federal claims. The history of the adoption and development of the Amendment ... confirms that it is an independent limitation on all exercises of Art. III power: the entire judicial power granted by the Constitution does not embrace authority to entertain suit brought by private parties against a State without consent given. If we were to hold otherwise, a federal court could award damages against a State on the basis of a pendent claim. Our decision in Edelman v. Jordan ... makes clear that pendent jurisdiction does not permit such an evasion of the immunity guaranteed by the Eleventh Amendment. 18 Pennhurst, 104 S.Ct. at 919 (citations omitted). Thus, although Terrell's claim against the DOT is pendent to his claim against the United States, the eleventh amendment bars his suit. 19 Terrell's final argument is that it is patently unfair to dismiss the DOT from this case because the DOT's stipulation recognizing the trial court's jurisdiction lulled Terrell into a position of relying on the stipulation until the [state] statute of limitations governing this action had expired. Terrell's argument is compelling. Were it not for the eleventh amendment, the district court's conclusions that the DOT breached its duty to protect a public invitee from a known danger would be affirmed unless clearly erroneous. Nonetheless, the United States Supreme Court has firmly stated that the considerations of judicial economy, convenience, and fairness to litigants are policy considerations that cannot override the constitutional limitation on the authority of the federal judiciary to adjudicate suits against a State. Pennhurst, 104 S.Ct. at 919-20. 20 In light of the above, we reverse the judgment against the DOT.