Opinion ID: 149223
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: EEOC's Claim for Damages

Text: If EEOC's suit against Peabody were allowed to proceed, the district court would almost certainly award damages against Peabody if it concludes that the Navajo employment preference provision violates Title VII. In that event, Peabody would quite reasonably look to the Secretary for indemnification, given that the preference provision was included in the leases at the insistence of the Secretary. Rule 14(a) would permit Peabody to file a third-party complaint against the Secretary for indemnification. But because Peabody's indemnification suit would seek damages, it would be barred by the government's sovereign immunity unless that immunity is waived by statute. We can find no waiver of sovereign immunity to such a suit. The Tucker Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1346(a)(2), waives the government's sovereign immunity in damage suits based on contract, as well as for some claims arising under the Constitution and statutes of the United States. Under the Tucker Act, a party's claims must either rest upon a contract, seek the return of money paid by them to the Government, or establish an entitlement to money damages under a federal statute that `can fairly be interpreted as mandating compensation by the Federal Government for the damage sustained.' United States v. Testan, 424 U.S. 392, 400, 96 S.Ct. 948, 47 L.Ed.2d 114 (1976) (quoting Eastport S.S. Corp. v. United States, 178 Ct.Cl. 599, 372 F.2d 1002, 1009 (1967)); see also Lake Mohave Boat Owners Ass'n v. Nat'l Park Serv., 78 F.3d 1360, 1365 (9th Cir.1995). The Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1346(b), waives the sovereign immunity of the United States for suits in tort. See FDIC v. Meyer, 510 U.S. 471, 477, 114 S.Ct. 996, 127 L.Ed.2d 308 (1994). However, neither the Tucker Act nor the Federal Tort Claims Act waives the government's sovereign immunity in the circumstances of this case. Title VII also waives the government's sovereign immunity to some extent. Based on that waiver, a federal employee may sue the government for damages under Title VII, provided that administrative remedies with EEOC have been exhausted. 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-16(c); see Library of Cong. v. Shaw, 478 U.S. 310, 319, 106 S.Ct. 2957, 92 L.Ed.2d 250(Congress waived the Government's immunity under Title VII as a defendant, affording federal employees a right of action against the Government for its discriminatory acts as an employer.); cf. Fitzpatrick v. Bitzer, 427 U.S. 445, 96 S.Ct. 2666, 49 L.Ed.2d 614 (1976) (Title VII abrogates the states' sovereign immunity). But we can find nothing in Title VII that waives the government's sovereign immunity to a damages suit brought by a private employer that has itself violated Title VII. Peabody's only sin, if indeed it was a sin, was to comply with an employment preference provision inserted in its lease at the insistence of the Secretary. It would be profoundly unfair for a court to award damages against Peabody while allowing Peabody no redress against the government. We are unable to see any way to mitigate this unfairness by, for example, protective provisions in the judgment;... shaping relief; or ... other measures. Fed.R.Civ.P. 19(b)(2)(A-C). We therefore conclude that in equity and good conscience EEOC's damages claim against Peabody must be dismissed under Rule 19(b).