Summary
holding that Congress abrogated states' Eleventh Amendment immunity in ADEA's 1974 amendment
Summary of this case from Goshtasby v. Board of Trustees of the University of IllinoisOpinion
No. 93-3082.
July 12, 1994.
Carl A. Gallagher, Asst. Atty. Gen. (Robert T. Stephan, Atty. Gen., with him on the briefs), Topeka, KS, for defendant-appellant.
Mark A. Buchanan, The Popham Law Firm, P.C., Kansas City, MO, for plaintiff-appellee.
Paul D. Ramshaw, Attorney (Donald R. Livingston, Gen. Counsel, Gwendolyn Young Reams, Assoc. Gen. Counsel, and Vincent J. Blackwood, Asst. Gen. Counsel, with him on the brief), U.S. E.E.O. Com., Washington, DC, amicus curiae.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Kansas.
The issue in this case is whether lawsuits under the Age Discrimination Employment Act ("ADEA") brought by private litigants against the state in federal court are barred by Eleventh Amendment immunity. In a thorough and well-reasoned opinion published at 821 F. Supp. 1410 (D.Kan. 1993), the district court held that Congress intended to abrogate states' Eleventh Amendment immunity when it passed the ADEA. The only additions we can make to the district court's opinion are the citations for two more cases that support its holding. Specifically, in addition to the cases cited by the district court, both the Seventh Circuit, see Heiar v. Crawford County, Wis., 746 F.2d 1190 (1984), cert. denied, 472 U.S. 1027, 105 S.Ct. 3500, 87 L.Ed.2d 631 (1985), and the First Circuit, see Ramirez v. Puerto Rico Fire Serv., 715 F.2d 694 (1st Cir. 1983), have held that Congress intended to abrogate states' Eleventh Amendment immunity when it passed the ADEA. Accordingly, we affirm for substantially the same reasons given by the district court.
AFFIRMED.