Opinion ID: 202265
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: State Immunity from Compensatory Damages Under Puerto Rico Law

Text: 66 [I]n the absence of consent[,] a suit in which the State or one of its agencies or departments is named as the defendant is proscribed by the Eleventh Amendment. Pennhurst State Sch. & Hosp. v. Halderman, 465 U.S. 89, 100, 104 S.Ct. 900, 79 L.Ed.2d 67 (1984); see also Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U.S. 651, 662-63, 94 S.Ct. 1347, 39 L.Ed.2d 662 (1974). This jurisdictional bar applies regardless of the nature of the relief sought. Pennhurst, 465 U.S. at 100, 104 S.Ct. 900. 67 Plaintiffs argue that the compensatory damages award, if not available under federal law, is justifiable under §§ 1802 and 1803 of the Puerto Rico Civil Code, which is the general negligence statute. 24 See P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 31, §§ 5141, 5142. Taking advantage of the rule that Eleventh Amendment immunity can be raised at any time because of its jurisdictional implications, Acevedo Lopez v. Police Dep't, 247 F.3d 26, 28 (1st Cir.2001), the Commonwealth defendants invoke for the first time on appeal their Eleventh Amendment immunity against suit in federal court on the Puerto Rico law claims. Plaintiffs offer no response. 68 The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is treated as a state for purposes of Eleventh Amendment immunity analysis. Redondo Constr. Corp. v. P.R. Highway & Transp. Auth., 357 F.3d 124, 125 n. 1 (1st Cir.2004). The Commonwealth can waive its immunity in three ways: (1) by a clear declaration that it intends to submit itself to the jurisdiction of a federal court ...; (2) by consent to or participation in a federal program for which waiver of immunity is an express condition; or (3) by affirmative conduct in litigation. New Hampshire v. Ramsey, 366 F.3d 1, 15 (1st Cir.2004) (citations omitted). But the Commonwealth's waiver of sovereign immunity in its own courts is not a waiver of the Eleventh Amendment immunity in the federal courts. Pennhurst, 465 U.S. at 99 n. 9, 104 S.Ct. 900. 69 The Commonwealth defendants do not have Eleventh Amendment immunity against the federal IDEA and Rehabilitation Act claims, because they waived such immunity by accepting federal funds. See 20 U.S.C. § 1403(a) (conditioning a state's receipt of federal IDEA funds to its consent to suit under that statute); 42 U.S.C. § 2000d-7(a)(1) (same under the Rehabilitation Act); see also Nieves-Márquez, 353 F.3d at 127-30. 70 Although the Commonwealth has consented to be sued for damages in actions brought under the Commonwealth general negligence statute, such consent does not extend to actions filed in any courts but the Commonwealth's own. Neither Section 1802 or 1803 contains an explicit waiver of the Commonwealth's sovereign immunity. And Law 104, P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 32, § 3077, which abrogates the Commonwealth's immunity with respect to negligence suits filed against the Commonwealth in Puerto Rico's Court of the First Instance, does not extend that waiver to suits filed in federal court. See Pennhurst, 465 U.S. at 99 & n. 9, 104 S.Ct. 900 (noting that [a] State's constitutional interest in immunity encompasses not merely whether it may be sued, but where it may be sued). Moreover, as defendants point out, Law 51 itself does not waive the Commonwealth's immunity from suit in federal court; indeed, that statute does not even explicitly authorize private suits for its enforcement in any court, let alone in federal court. 25 Plaintiffs do not direct us to any law to the contrary, nor do they argue that the Commonwealth has waived its immunity by any other means, such as by its litigation conduct. 71 Defendants argue that the Commonwealth's immunity extends to its Department of Education. This court has assumed without discussion that the DOE's Eleventh Amendment immunity is coextensive with that of the Commonwealth's. Fernandez v. Chardon, 681 F.2d 42, 59 (1st Cir.1982); Litton Indus., Inc. v. Colon, 587 F.2d 70, 72 (1st Cir.1978) (There is no doubt that the complaint states a cause of action against the Commonwealth and/or the Department of Education of Puerto Rico for breach of contract, and it is equally clear that the [E]leventh [A]mendment effectively bars such a claim.). More recently, we have assume[d] without deciding that the Department of Education is properly considered the alter ego of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico for purposes of [E]leventh [A]mendment analysis. Marin-Piazza v. Aponte-Roque, 873 F.2d 432, 437 n. 6 (1st Cir.1989). We do so again here, since plaintiffs have utterly failed to present any argument to the contrary. 72 Plaintiffs, therefore, cannot look to state law to justify the compensatory damages award against the Commonwealth defendants. 73