Opinion ID: 2205569
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Even if the federal equitable tolling doctrine tolls the statute of limitations, did the State waive its sovereign immunity to be sued in state court?

Text: The district court relied on Ahern to conclude the federal equitable tolling doctrine allows the peace officers to collect damages for the three-year period prior to filing the complaint in federal court. In Ahern, the plaintiffs refiled their FLSA action in state court after the federal court dismissed the action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction based on the Eleventh Amendment. Id. at 233. In reaching its decision, the New York court discussed sovereign immunity under the Eleventh Amendment and concluded the Eleventh Amendment, which gives the state immunity from being sued in federal court, did not apply to the state's ability to be sued in state court. Id. at 234. The New York court concluded Congress abrogated the state's sovereign immunity for an FLSA action brought in state court. Id. The Ahern court then applied the federal common-law doctrine of equitable tolling to toll the statute of limitations. Id. at 235. Subsequent to Ahern, the Supreme Court decided the case of Alden v. Maine, 527 U.S. 706, 119 S.Ct. 2240, 144 L.Ed.2d 636 (1999). In Alden, the Supreme Court noted the states do not derive sovereign immunity in state court from the Eleventh Amendment, but rather from the fundamental aspect of sovereignty which the States enjoyed before the ratification of the Constitution, and which they retain today ... except as altered by the plan of the Convention or certain constitutional Amendments. Id. at 713, 119 S.Ct. at 2246-47, 144 L.Ed.2d at 652. This sovereign immunity is the immunity retained by the states under the Tenth Amendment. The Supreme Court then concluded Congress could not abrogate a state's sovereign immunity preserved by the Tenth Amendment through Article I legislation, such as the FLSA. Id. at 712, 119 S.Ct. at 2246, 144 L.Ed.2d. at 652. After the Supreme Court decided Alden, the New York court agreed Alden effectively overruled Ahern on the grounds New York did not waive its sovereign immunity preserved by the Tenth Amendment and did not consent to be sued in state court under the FLSA. See Alston v. State, 97 N.Y.2d 159, 737 N.Y.S.2d 45, 762 N.E.2d 923, 925-26 (2001). The State argues the Alden decision, together with the Supreme Court decision of Raygor v. Regents of the University of Minnesota, 534 U.S. 533, 122 S.Ct. 999, 152 L.Ed.2d 27 (2002), does not allow us to apply the federal equitable tolling doctrine to the peace officers' action, because the State has not waived its sovereign immunity to be sued in state court for an FLSA action. In Raygor, the court discussed the issue of sovereign immunity in the context of the federal savings clause, [8] 28 U.S.C. § 1367(d). Id. at 542, 122 S.Ct. at 1005, 152 L.Ed.2d at 37. The Supreme Court concluded the federal savings provision does not apply to a state unless the state has waived its sovereign immunity to be sued for the specific action in state court. Id. at 548, 122 S.Ct. at 1008, 152 L.Ed.2d at 41. The determination we must make is whether the state has waived the sovereign immunity it enjoyed before the ratification of the Constitution to be sued in state court for violations of the FLSA. This analysis does not involve Eleventh Amendment immunity. In Anthony, we previously held: We are convinced that the statutory scheme for deriving pay plans has been implemented in a manner that includes FLSA overtime remuneration as compensation owed by an employer. Sections 91A.8 and 91A.10(3) provide an express consent to sue in the Iowa courts for purposes of recovering any compensation thus owed. 632 N.W.2d at 902 (emphasis added). In other words, we have already determined the State waived its sovereign immunity by expressly consenting to be sued in state court for FLSA overtime remuneration. Because the State has abrogated its sovereign immunity to be sued in state court for compensation owed under the FLSA, Alden and Raygor are inapplicable and the federal equitable tolling doctrine allows the peace officers to recover damages for the three-year period preceding the date the action was filed in federal court. We, therefore, affirm the district court's judgment on this issue.