Page 31
125 F.3d 31 (2nd Cir. 1997)
(BNA) 108
James Edwin CLOSE, James R. Collins, Lawrence G. Clare,
William G. Hastback, Richard T. Lepkowski, Patricia E.
O'Connor, James V. Bradley, Gerard C. Letendre, Edward
Woltmann, Gerard E. Black, Ruben F. Enriquez, Robert C.
Knizek, Karen C. Ore, Vincent Rapacciuolo, William
Toffenetti, Joshua Weiss, Edgar J. Robinson, Elton Jay
Dietrich, Nicholas Adams, Charles Antzak, Thomas A. Atlas,
Matthew Bewtiuegna, Michael J. Berman, Raymond Bordoni,
Wayne G. Borek, Charles R. Bradley, Jr., John J. Calagna,
Albert Caronia, Ronald M. Cerniglia, Thomas O. Carey,
Stephen Cohen, William F. Coleman, Leo T. Connolly, Carl
Cornelius, Michael T. Cotton, Robert L. Covel, Donald F.
Darmer, Vijaya Deshpande, Kathleen R. Dick, Michael E.
Doody, John J. Dowling, Nathan Erlbaum, James Evensen, Roy
Fuller, Jerome L. Gershenson, Daniel D. Gottlieb, L. Daniel
Gorritz, Patricia Grabianowski, David N. Green, Paul R.
Greenfield, Ben Grey, Robert Hansen, William C. Heilmann,
Eric R. Heim, Mary Iandiorio, Robert H. Jones, Michael J.
Kanuk, Neville Kerr, Frank A. Klinowski, Jeffrey W. Kimmer,
Melisande Kopp, Richard J. Kotecki, Nancy A. Kunz, Roseanne
S. Krytak, Sandra Liburd, Sue M. Malatesta, Ralph A.
Marcucio, John E. Marsden, Peter J. Martinelli, John Mason,
Matthew Mazzamurro, Paul E. McAnany, Walter F. McGuire, Mary
E. McIntosh, Daryll K. Messner, Lillian M. Milne, Frank
Montemarano, Stephen J. Moore, C. Kelley Morgan, Eileen M.
O'Brien, Hugh D. O'Rourke, Ronald C. Palumbo, Walter J.
Parish, Anthony M. Piscitelli, Paul Polansky, James Quinn,
Amparo B. Quizon, Theodore M. Raab, Gideon Rabino, Edward
Ratowsky, Richard A. Rink, Don E. Russell, Celia M. Sagullo,
Adolfo Santiago, Ann B. Sartoris, Judith L. Schoonover,
Jeffrey A. Schulkind, Ralph Schwartz, James W. Sefren, Owen
P. Shevlin, Jr., Leonard Siegel, Robert P. Snyder, Sr.,
Larry A. Solomon, Charles Subelka, Koon S. Tang, Sajni M.
Thadani, MaryEllen Tobin, Wayne R. Ugolk, Quentin G.
Vannortwictk, Thomas R. Verburg, Sarah E. Washington, Allan
Wasserman, Lawrence R. Watts, Trina L. Weisman, Carl P.
Wiedemann, Ronald G. Wierzbicki, John R. Williams, Donald
Zacchea, George Zaferes, Edward G. Abelson, Virginia K.
Adams, Rebecca Jean Anderson, Harvey Arnett, Robert E.
Arnold, Kathleen M. Ashline, Charles G. Awalt, Roy D.
Bailey, Dennis A. Balson, Jeffrey Baseel, Victor Batorsky,
Steven Baum, Wayne R. Bayer, Arthur Berger, Michael J.
Berman, Barbara Berman, Susan D. Biscup, Edward P. Blackmer,
David D. Blair, Andris Blumbergs, Marianne J. Bono, Steven
R. Botsford, Joan E. Boyd, Paula Bradwell, Johathan M.
Brandes, Michael Brinkman, Susan Bubb, Donald H. Cadwell,
Peter Campbell, Philip Anthony Casoria, Kevin J. Casutto,
Salvatore V. Catena, Philip H. Chase, Louis A. Chiarella,
Kenneth Chieu, Karen Chytalo, D. Frank Coates, Jeanne A.
Compitello, Judy A. Cooper, John Daniel Corcoran, Vincent J.
Corcoran, Michael Corso, Donald J. Csaposs, Gail Arden
Culver, Thomas A. D'Ambrosia, Richard F. Darius, Michael
Daskalakis, Diane T. Dean, Jennifer J. Dean, Barbara Dell
'Acqua, William Mark Derespino, Lester J. Dier, Leonard
Dimon, Mary Ellen Dix, James R. Dolan, Edward F. Dombroski,
Sere Jacques Dos, Michele Drugan, Frank Jon Duda, Luann
Evans, Robert S. Evans, Lois M. Fairchild, David J. Fallon,
William Fedoryk, Douglas P. Ferguson, William F. Fighter,
Bruce W. Finster, Richard J. Fischer, M.D., Scott J. Foti,
Richard J. Frakes, Mark Friedlander, Lawrence Friedman,
Wayne E. Fuhrman, George Gaborow, Frank Gannon, Charles F.
Gardephe, Robert A. Gebhardt, Joel H. Gedell, Wayne E.
Georgia, Joseph Giammichele, Marilyn Gimber, Barry J.
Gloeckner, Keith D. Goertz, Mark Goldhaber, Stephen Granger,
James A. Gray, Barbara J.S. Greenberg, Ira M. Gross,
Charlene Gurian, Judith A. Hall, Francis Hamblin, Charles T.
Hamilton, Mark J. Harris, Michael M. Hayden, Patrick T.
Hayes, Deborah J. Heaphy, James M. Heekin, Joseph Hein,
Gerald K. Heitzman, Thomas E. Herkenham, William D. Hewson,
Keven R. Hintz, David E. Hodgkins, Maureen D. Hoffa,
Patricia Hopp, Martin B. Moran, Nancy L. Hotaling, George W.
Howard, Betty Ann Hughes, Gayle D. Hull, Lawrence Hunter,
Nancy L. Huss, Craig D. Jackson, Craig S. Jackson, George A.
Jackson, Richard H. Jacobs, Roberta Jainchill, John F.
Kaminsky, Stephen Karnath, Bruce B. Kastor, Michael T.
Keenan, William M, Kelly, Gregory M. Ketz, Kenneth F.
Keutmann, Edward J. Kingsley, Jonathan S. Klob, Mark A.
Klotz, Edward A. Kokalas, Michael J. Komoroske, Lydia J.
Kosinski, Henry J. Kuczynski, Tae S. Kwon, Khin M. Kyi,
M.D., Francis P. Lahey, Ellen Laquire, John J. Lavalle,
Raymond Lawrence, Anastasia D. Leach, Edmina C. Lee, Mike
Lepore, Orest Lewinter, Donnie Lewis, Geneva M. Lewis, Mark
B. Lewis, Gerald H. Liepshutz, Jeanne V. Linden, Dennis J.
Lucia, Ann F. Lundin, Samuel J. Mark, M. Charles Markham,
Donald W. Marley, Lamont A. Martin, Jonathan Maskin, Anthony
Mauro, Susan D. McCormick, Mark A. McDermott, Michael P.
McDermott, Raymond T. McDougall, Michael J. McGarry, Charles
R. McHugh, Jr., Carlton J. Meadows, Anthony J. Memoli, Steve
Merr, Thomas O. Middlebrook, Peter R. Miller, Stephen R.
Mooradian, Kenneth V. Moore, Terry L. Moore, James C.
Moragne, Ralph Morgenstern, Albert H. Muench, Brian R.
Murphy, John P. Murphy, James E. Murray, Mario Musso,
Lawrence A. Myers, Jerold A. Nadel, Kevin P. Neary, James F.
Nelson, William G. Niezgoda, David Van Nordstrand, Thomas F.
Nytch, Paul J. Obernesser, Terrence P. O'Neill, Louis P.
Oliva, Karen B. Papandrea, James M. Parmelez, Ronald D.
Passmore, David Patten, Arthur D. Perkins, Dale J. Peterson,
Peter M. Pettit, Richard A. Phipps, Gerald F. Pietraszek,
Andrew H. Placito, Jr., Brian Platt, Melvin Plavin, Edward
Powers, Salvatore F. Priore, John C. Proud, Paul E. Pugh,
Richard M. Raczkowski, William O. Radley, John T. Raffa,
Patrick J. Regan, John N. Reynolds, Michael F. Rivara, Scott
A. Rodabaugh, Laurence Ross, Abraham Rozman, Robert J. Rudd,
Edward Rudder, John C. Ryan, Theodore P. Ryan, Ann L.
Rymski, Philip Salerno, Clifford P. Salo, Nirmala Sankaran,
Patricia Markham Santillo, Alan Saperstein, James Santucci,
Andrew W. Schellhammer, Harry Scholl, Michael Schongar,
Robert K. Scott, Jesse Selzer, Steven Septer, Jesus S.
Serrano, Gregory P. Sharlow, Kathleen M. Shea, William M.
Shusda, Robert P. Shutter, Larry Signer, Peter W.
Silberstein, Richard A. Sill, Don Sislowski, Douglas A.
Smith, Gale Smith, Gerald P. Smith, Richard Socher, James P.
Soldo, Mark Solomon, Charles J. Stock, Doris D. Stout,
Donald A. Streeter, Steven P. Struzinsky, Eleanor Zieske
Symeon, Benjamin J. Taylor, Martin Thompson, Elaine Tober,
Walter E. Tolcser, Raymond C. Toth, David H. Traynor, Jay T.
Trembly, Gale Trentalange, Harvey B. Tress, Jonah
Triebwasser, Joseph R. Tuttle, Jacqueline Donovan Unser,
John P. Valenti, G. Van Hoesen, Sarah Van Leer, Mark Edgar
Van Valkenburg, Santiago Vargas, Maria Velazquez, David
Vitale, Edward J. Wade, Philip G. Waite, Carl W. Walls,
Vernon B. Walter, Miggie Warms, Stephen R. Warner, Neal P.
Warren, H. Gene Washington, Denise Waxman, Alice M. Weber,
Wanda F. Webster, Arthur Weiner, Ronald White, Carl C.
Widmer, Richard L. Williams, William R. Williams, Jr.,
Thomas K. Wong, James P. Zabawa, James T. Zampier, Janet
Spencer Quinn, Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v.
STATE OF NEW YORK, Defendant-Appellee.
No. 1248, Docket 96-9252.
United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
September 4, 1997
Argued April 23, 1997.
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Lisa M. King, Albany, New York (William P. Seamon, Albany, NY, of counsel), for Plaintiffs-Appellants.
Daniel Smirlock, Assistant Attorney General, Albany, NY (Dennis C. Vacco, Attorney General, Peter H. Schiff, Deputy Solicitor General, Nancy A. Spiegel, Assistant Attorney General, Albany, NY, on brief), for Defendant-Appellee.
Before: OAKES, ALTIMARI and JACOBS, Circuit Judges.
ALTIMARI, Circuit Judge:
Plaintiffs-appellants appeal from an order entered on August 19, 1996 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York (McAvoy, J.) dismissing plaintiffs-appellants' claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1).
Today, we join our sister circuits in considering: (1) whether after the Supreme Court's decision in Seminole, Congress may abrogate the States' Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity under the Interstate Commerce Clause; and (2) whether States waive their sovereign immunity by acting outside the sphere of state sovereignty. We find the answer to both is negative and, accordingly, affirm the district court, dismissing this action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
BACKGROUND
Plaintiffs-appellants are 404 employees (the "Employees") of defendant-appellee State of New York ("New York" or the "State") who allege that the State failed to pay overtime compensation in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (the "FLSA"). 29 U.S.C. §§ 201-219 (1978).
In July 1994, the Employees commenced this action seeking recovery of unpaid overtime compensation, liquidated damages, and reasonable attorneys' fees from New York pursuant to the FLSA. 29 U.S.C. § 216(b). In February 1996, the Employees...
