Opinion ID: 2599590
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Sovereign Immunity, WSU and the Board of Regents

Text: Having disposed of the claims against the individual defendants, we now consider Goldbarth's First Amendment claim against WSU and the Regents, which is essentially a claim against the State of Kansas. Goldbarth alleges WSU's sexual harassment policy, like the policy in Cohen, is unconstitutionally vague. Goldbarth's claim has no merit because: (1) the State is immune; (2) Goldbarth has failed to allege that the Policy has chilled his speech; (3) the Policy has not been applied to him by the faculty grievance committee; and (4) to the extent the Policy was applied by Bowman, Goldbarth's speech was not found to have violated the Policy. We focus on the first two of these points. Here, WSU and the Regents have asserted sovereign immunity as a defense. Goldbarth did not respond to our show cause order as to why any remaining constitutional claims against the State of Kansas should not be dismissed in light of the inherent sovereign immunity of the State of Kansas. See, e.g., Alden v. Maine, 527 U.S. 706, 144 L. Ed.2d 636, 119 S. Ct. 2240 (1999). We recently discussed Alden extensively in Schall v. Wichita State University, No. 83,264, filed June 9, 2000. Alden addresses state sovereign immunity from suits in state court. In reviewing the constitutional ratification process, Alden, in barring a claim under the Fair Labor Standards Act, first determined that one of the key principles behind the formulation of the United States Constitution was that the states should retain their sovereign immunity absent their consent. There is no allegation by Goldbarth that the State has consented to be sued. Alden concluded that the sovereign's right to assert immunity from suit in its own courts was a principle so well established that no one conceived it would be altered by the new Constitution. 527 U.S. at 741. Alden, 527 U.S. at 723-24, discusses and relies on Hans v. Louisiana, 134 U.S. 1, 33 L. Ed. 842, 10 S. Ct. 504 (1890). Hans sustained Louisiana's immunity in a private suit arising under the United States Constitution itself. In Schall, we affirmed summary judgment in favor of WSU denying Schall's claims against WSU under the Family Medical Leave Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. We said: The powers delegated to Congress under Article I of the United States Constitution do not include the power to subject nonconsenting states to private suits for damages in state courts. Schall, 269 Kan. 456, Syl. ¶ 2. Goldbarth argues that the defense of sovereign immunity was not raised in the district court below and is therefore waived. He fails to recognize that immunity is an issue of jurisdiction, and, as such, we are compelled to address it. See Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U.S. 651, 677-78, 39 L. Ed.2d 662, 94 S. Ct. 1347 (1974); Ford Co. v. Dept. of Treasury, 323 U.S. 459, 465-66, 89 L. Ed. 389, 65 S. Ct. 347 (1945). Here we have a free speech deprivation claim under the United States Constitution seeking damages against the State. Such claims in the federal forum are referred to as Bivens actions. See Bivens v. Six Unknown Fed. Narcotics Agents, 403 U.S. 388, 29 L. Ed 2d 619, 91 S. Ct. 1999 (1971) (permitting federal damage claims in federal court directly under the Fourth Amendment although no federal statute authorized the action). Goldbarth has neither advanced a Bivens claim nor characterized his suit as a Bivens action. Even if he had done so, traveling the Bivens route would result in a dead end. See Sharp v. State, 245 Kan. 749, 754, 783 P.2d 343 (1989) (refusing to recognize Bivens action under Thirteenth Amendment against State of Kansas). WSU and the Regents are entitled to sovereign immunity. The district court also held that: (1) Bowman and Patton were entitled to absolute immunity and (2) Goldbarth had failed to exhaust his administrative remedies before filing suit. We have affirmed the district court on other grounds and thus need not reach these two holdings. Affirmed.