Bennett-Nelson v. Louisiana Bd. of Regents

Decision Date28 November 2005
Docket NumberNo. 03-31198.,03-31198.
Citation431 F.3d 448
PartiesWendy Renee BENNETT-NELSON, Joy Marie Boykin, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. LOUISIANA BOARD OF REGENTS, etc., et al., Defendants, Louisiana Board of Regents, also known as University of Louisiana System Board of Trustees, also known as University of Louisiana System; State of Louisiana; William Carvel Fowler, Individually; Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System, formerly known as Board of Trustees, doing business as Louisiana Tech University, Defendants-Appellees.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Nelson W. Cameron (argued), Shreveport, LA, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.

Winston G. DeCuir, Linda L. Clark, Brandon James DeCuir (argued), DeCuir & Clark, Baton Rouge, LA, for Defendants-Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.

Before JOLLY, HIGGINBOTHAM and JONES, Circuit Judges.

E. GRADY JOLLY, Circuit Judge:

Two hearing impaired students at Louisiana Tech University ("the University"), Wendy Renee Bennett-Nelson and Joy Marie Boykin ("the appellants"), brought this action under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ("ADA") and § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The appellants alleged that the University denied them equal access to education by failing to provide educational aids and services, such as sign language interpreters and note takers, in a timely and effective manner. The district court dismissed the appellants' claims, holding that they were barred by the immunity from suit in the federal courts granted to Louisiana by the Eleventh Amendment.

On appeal, the appellants contend (1) that the University has waived its immunity from suit under § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act by accepting federal funding; and (2) that Congress has validly abrogated Eleventh Amendment immunity from suit under Title II of the ADA. We agree that the University, as a recipient of federal financial assistance, has waived its Eleventh Amendment immunity. We therefore need not go further to address the abrogation issue. Accordingly, we REVERSE and REMAND for further proceedings.

I

The facts of this case are uncomplicated and largely undisputed. Louisiana Tech University is a public university governed by the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System. Although its main source of funding is the State of Louisiana, the University also distributes approximately twenty-one million dollars in federal financial aid to students each year. The University's primary sources of federal funds are the Federal Work Study program and the Pell Grant program.

The appellants were enrolled as full-time students at the University. Because of their hearing impairments, they requested that the University's Office of Disabled Student Services provide certain accommodations. In particular, the appellants requested sign language interpreters and note takers for the classes in which they were enrolled, as well as certain study aids.

Before the district court, the appellants alleged that, although the University did provide the requested assistance "on rare occasions", it routinely failed to do so. Thus, the appellants contended, the University failed to make reasonable accommodations for their disabilities, as required under Title II of the ADA and § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. See 42 U.S.C. § 12131(2); 28 C.F.R. § 42.521(a). The University responded that the accommodations it provided were adequate, and that Louisiana's Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity barred the appellants' claims.

Upon a motion by the defendants, the district court dismissed all of the appellants' claims against the Louisiana Board of Regents, the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System, the University, and the State of Louisiana (hereinafter, collectively, "the Louisiana appellees"), holding that these claims were barred under the Eleventh Amendment.1 Specifically, the court held (1) that Congress did not validly abrogate Louisiana's sovereign immunity via either Title II of the ADA or § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act; and (2) that the University had not waived its immunity from suit under § 504. This appeal followed.

II

The sole issue before us is whether Louisiana's Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity bars the appellants' claims under the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act. Our review is de novo.2 Our inquiry begins, as always, with the text of the Amendment.

The Eleventh Amendment provides that "[t]he Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State." U.S. Const. amend. XI. As we explained in Pace v. Bogalusa City School Board, the core function of the Amendment is to bar the authority of federal courts to litigate suits brought by citizens against the states. See 403 F.3d 272, 276 (5th Cir.2005) (en banc). Although, by its express terms, the Amendment "bar[s] only federal jurisdiction over suits brought against one State by citizens of another State or foreign state",3 the Supreme Court has long held that it also precludes jurisdiction where, as here, a citizen brings suit against her own state in federal court.4 See Idaho v. Coeur d'Alene Tribe of Idaho, 521 U.S. 261, 267-68, 117 S.Ct. 2028, 138 L.Ed.2d 438 (citing Hans v. Louisiana, 134 U.S. 1, 10 S.Ct. 504, 33 L.Ed. 842 (1890)).

There are two exceptions to the rule of sovereign immunity. First, a state may waive its immunity by consenting to suit. See, e.g., Coll. Savings Bank v. Florida Prepaid Postsecondary Educ. Expense Bd., 527 U.S. 666, 670, 119 S.Ct. 2219, 144 L.Ed.2d 605 (1999) (citing Clark v. Barnard, 108 U.S. 436, 447-48, 2 S.Ct. 878, 27 L.Ed. 780 (1883)). Second, Congress may abrogate state sovereign immunity pursuant to the enforcement power conferred by § 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment. See id. The appellants contend that the University — and by extension, the remaining Louisiana appellees — have waived their immunity from suit under § 504, and that Congress has validly abrogated state sovereign immunity from suit under Title II of the ADA. We address these contentions in turn.

A

The appellants first contend that the University has waived its Eleventh Amendment immunity from suit under § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act by accepting federal financial assistance. Section 504 provides that:

No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States ... shall, solely by reason of his or her disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance....

29 U.S.C. § 794(a). A separate provision, 42 U.S.C. § 2000d-7, conditions a state's receipt of federal funds on its waiver of Eleventh Amendment immunity to actions under § 504.5 Our task, then, is twofold. First, we must decide whether the University is a "program or activity receiving federal financial assistance" within the meaning of § 504, such that the waiver condition found in § 2000d-7 applies. If it is, we must determine whether, under the multi-factor test set forth in South Dakota v. Dole, 483 U.S. 203, 107 S.Ct. 2793, 97 L.Ed.2d 171 (1987), the condition represents a constitutionally permissible exercise of Congress' spending power.

The Louisiana appellees contend, and the district court agreed, that the University is not a "program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance" within the meaning of § 504, and thus, does not fall within the waiver provision of § 2000d-7. As a preliminary matter, we note that a "program or activity" is defined as "all of the operations of ... a college, university, or other postsecondary institution, or a public system of higher education ... any part of which is extended Federal financial assistance". 29 U.S.C. § 794(b)(2)(A). Thus, the precise question before us is whether the University — that is, any department or other subdivision of the University — is a recipient of federal funds.

The University concedes that enrolled students "receive federal funds earmarked for educational expenses". In particular, the University's Director of Student Financial Aid testified that the University receives "somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty-one [to] twenty-two million dollars" in federal financial aid annually. A significant portion of this aid comes from the Federal Work Study program, under which the "federal government ... provide[s] the university a fund of federal money that must be matched by university money[,] which is then used [to pay] student workers".

Moreover, approximately five million dollars of aid comes via the Pell Grant program, under which the federal government "writes a check ... directly to Louisiana Tech University", and funds are "funneled through" the University "for distribution to the student". Because these funds are earmarked for educational purposes, the University will typically distribute the money directly to a student's account with the school, where it is applied toward expenses such as tuition, room and board, and meals.

The crux of the University's argument is that, because it is the student who ultimately receives the above-described federal funds, the University is not a recipient of federal aid within the meaning of § 504 and § 2000d-7, and thus, has not waived its Eleventh Amendment immunity. The University's argument, however, is effectively foreclosed by the Supreme Court's holdings in Grove City College v. Bell, 465 U.S. 555, 104 S.Ct. 1211, 79 L.Ed.2d 516 (1984), and U.S. Dept. of Transportation v. Paralyzed Veterans of America, 477 U.S. 597, 106 S.Ct. 2705, 91 L.Ed.2d 494 (1986).

In Grove City, the Supreme Court held that the petitioner, a private college, was a recipient of federal funds within the meaning of § 901(a) of Title IX,6 which prohibits...

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