Opinion ID: 788414
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: State Immunities and Federal Discrimination Statutes

Text: 48 It is well established that the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution grants Congress the power to preempt state and local laws. Oxygenated Fuels Ass'n v. Davis, 331 F.3d 665, 667 (9th Cir.2003). [S]tate law is pre-empted to the extent that it actually conflicts with federal law. Id. (quoting English v. Gen. Elec. Co., 496 U.S. 72, 78-79, 110 S.Ct. 2270, 110 L.Ed.2d 65 (1990)). Thus, where state law `stands as an obstacle to the accomplishment and execution of the full purposes and objectives of Congress,' the federal interests must prevail. Id. 49 We have previously held that California's statutory litigation privilege does not apply to bar an action brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. See Kimes v. Stone, 84 F.3d 1121, 1127 (9th Cir.1996). In Kimes, plaintiff heirs brought an action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, claiming that their former attorneys and a Superior Court judge deprived them of property without due process. The plaintiffs alleged that the defendants conspired to vacate a jury verdict and thereby deprive them of property from their father's estate. Id. at 1124-25. The attorneys asserted in response that the absolute litigation privilege of California Civil Code § 47(b) protected their communications in the probate litigation from tort liability. Id. at 1126-27. We held that the attorneys could not claim the protection of a state immunity statute to thwart the important federal protections guaranteed by the Constitution. We concluded that: 50 Conduct by persons ... which is wrongful under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 ... cannot be immunized by state law. A construction of the federal statute which permitted a state immunity defense to have controlling effect would transmute a basic guarantee into an illusory promise; and the supremacy clause of the Constitution insures that the proper construction may be enforced. 51 Kimes, 84 F.3d at 1127 (quoting Martinez v. California, 444 U.S. 277, 284 n. 8, 100 S.Ct. 553, 62 L.Ed.2d 481 (1980)); see also Sosa v. Hiraoka, 920 F.2d 1451, 1460 & n. 3 (9th Cir.1990) (holding that California laws conferring immunity on community college and its administrators for discretionary acts could not protect them from Title VII discrimination claims). 52 We conclude that the same rationale applies to claims under the ADA. Our holding accords with the decision of the Seventh Circuit in Steffes v. Stepan Co., 144 F.3d 1070, 1074 (7th Cir.1998). Steffes held the district court erred when it applied a state litigation privilege to bar federal retaliation claims made pursuant to Title VII and the ADA, stating, [A] state absolute litigation privilege purporting to confer immunity from suit cannot defeat a federal cause of action. Id. 53 Consequently, we hold that Kaiser was not entitled to claim the protection of California Civil Code § 47(b) as a shield from liability for retaliatory acts committed after the settlement. We therefore vacate the judgment for Kaiser on Pardi's claim for post-Settlement Agreement retaliation and remand to the district court for further proceedings. 54