Opinion ID: 181765
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Tucker Act and Sovereign Immunity

Text: We note, finally, that our reasoning conforms with the Supreme Court's teaching that a suit to enforce a settlement agreement requires its own basis of jurisdiction independent from the federal source of the underlying claim, Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins. Co. of Am., 511 U.S. 375, 378, 381-82, 114 S.Ct. 1673, 128 L.Ed.2d 391 (1994), as well as with the Court of Federal Claims's recent interpretations of its own exclusive jurisdiction over damage actions in contract against the United States worth more than $10,000, pursuant to the Tucker Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1491. [5] See, e.g., Westover v. United States, 71 Fed.Cl. 635 (2006). While recognizing that Title VII provides the exclusive judicial remedy for claims of discrimination in federal employment, Brown v. Gen. Servs. Admin., 425 U.S. 820, 835, 96 S.Ct. 1961, 48 L.Ed.2d 402 (1976) (emphasis added), [6] the Court of Federal Claims has recently concluded, in light of Kokkonen, that Title VII's [c]omprehensive [s]cheme of [r]eview [d]oes [n]ot [p]reclude Tucker Act [j]urisdiction in the Court of Federal Claims [o]ver Title VII [s]ettlement [a]greements, Taylor v. United States, 73 Fed. Cl. 532, 541 (2006); see also Greenhill v. United States, 92 Fed.Cl. 385 (2010); Westover, 71 Fed.Cl. at 639. In other words, the Court of Federal Claims has jurisdiction over such claims because they are not brought under Title VII § 706(f)(3). See 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f)(3); cf. Kokkonen, 511 U.S. at 378, 381-82, 114 S.Ct. 1673. Because Munoz's breach of settlement agreement claim is essentially a contract action against the federal government whose resolution requires no interpretation of Title VII itself, his claim cannot seek jurisdictional refuge in Title VII and belongs, if anywhere, in the Court of Federal Claims. See 28 U.S.C. § 1491; Greenhill v. Spellings, 482 F.3d 569, 575 (D.C.Cir.2007), reh'g en banc denied (June 20, 2007); Hansson, 411 F.3d at 234-35. Congress, while encouraging resolution of Title VII complaints through predetermination settlement agreements, [7] see 29 C.F.R. §§ 1601.20(a), 1614.603, has nonetheless not provided for enforcement of such agreements in federal court. The plain meaning of the text, the overarching regulatory framework, and the long-held prudential interest in narrowly construing waivers of sovereign immunity all compel this conclusion. [8]