Court Opinion

ID: 9941814
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-17 01:02:25.94091+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:47:04.045808
License: Public Domain

Case: 23-50677           Document: 28-1         Page: 1      Date Filed: 02/16/2024

          United States Court of Appeals
               for the Fifth Circuit
                                  ____________
                                                                            United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                     Fifth Circuit
                                   No. 23-50677
                                 Summary Calendar                                  FILED
                                 ____________                               February 16, 2024
                                                                              Lyle W. Cayce
Adriana Alvarez,                                                                   Clerk

                                                                 Plaintiff—Appellant,

                                         versus

Texas Workforce Commission,

                                            Defendant—Appellee.
                  ______________________________

                  Appeal from the United States District Court
                       for the Western District of Texas
                            USDC No. 3:23-CV-147
                  ______________________________

Before Jones, Smith, and Dennis, Circuit Judges.
Per Curiam: *
      Appellant Adriana Alvarez appeals the district court’s dismissal of her
claim against the Texas Workforce Commission (“TWC”). For the
following reasons, we AFFIRM.
      Alvarez was employed by Broker Logistics, Ltd. (“Broker Logistics”).
Her employment was allegedly terminated on account of her refusal to

      _____________________
      *
          This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 23-50677        Document: 28-1       Page: 2     Date Filed: 02/16/2024

                                  No. 23-50677

comply with Broker Logistics’s face covering policy. Alvarez alleges she
refused to comply for religious reasons. After her termination, she brought a
claim for unemployment benefits before the TWC, the administrative agency
that handles unemployment benefits in Texas. The TWC issued its final
opinion on March 28, 2023, finding that Alvarez did not qualify for
unemployment benefits. On May 9, 2023, Alvarez filed this instant suit
seeking review of TWC’s administrative decision. The district court
dismissed Alvarez’s claim without prejudice, finding that her claim against
TWC was barred by sovereign immunity under the Eleventh Amendment.
Alvarez appeals.
       “Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity deprives a federal court
of jurisdiction to hear a suit against a state.” Warnock v. Pecos Cnty., Tex., 88
F.3d 341, 343 (5th Cir. 1996). We review the district court’s jurisdictional
determination of sovereign immunity de novo. NiGen Biotech, L.L.C. v.
Paxton, 804 F.3d 389, 393 (5th Cir. 2015); Moore v. La. Bd. of Elementary &
Secondary Educ., 743 F.3d 959, 962 (5th Cir. 2014).
       We find that the district court did not err in dismissing Alvarez’s claim
without prejudice. “The Eleventh Amendment prohibits a private citizen
from bringing suit against a state in federal court unless the state consents.”
Hans v. Louisiana, 134 U.S. 1, 10 (1890). This immunity extends to state
agencies. Corn v. Miss. Dep’t of Pub. Safety, 954 F.3d 268, 274 (5th Cir. 2020)
(“[A] state’s sovereign immunity in federal court extends to private suits
against state agencies, state departments, and other arms of the state.”)
(emphasis added). A panel of our court has held that TWC is a state agency
entitled to Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity. Salinas v. Tex.
Workforce Comm’n, 573 F. App’x 370, 372 (5th Cir. 2014) (unpublished)
(“TWC is an agency of the State of Texas and therefore all claims brought
against it are barred by the Eleventh Amendment.”). TWC has not evinced
any intent to waive its sovereign immunity. Therefore, Alvarez’s claim

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Case: 23-50677     Document: 28-1       Page: 3   Date Filed: 02/16/2024

                              No. 23-50677

against TWC is barred by sovereign immunity and the district court was
correct to dismiss it without prejudice. We AFFIRM.

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