Varner v. Illinois State University

Decision Date30 July 1997
Docket NumberNo. 95-1355.,95-1355.
Citation972 F.Supp. 458
PartiesDr. Iris VARNER, et al., Plaintiffs, v. ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY, et al., Defendants.
CourtU.S. District Court — Central District of Illinois

William R. Kohlhase, Miller Hall & Triggs, Peoria, IL, Rebecca J. Wing, Nicholas P. Iavarone, Laurel G. Bellows, Joel J. Bellows, Bellows & Bellows, Chicago, IL, for Iris I. Varner, Teresa M. Palmer and Paula J. Pomerenke.

Carol J. Hansen Posegate, Gregory K. Harris, Carol Hansen Posegate, Giffin Winning Cohen & Bodewes, Springfield, IL, Renee Smith-Byas, Normal, IL, Mark S. Mester, Latham & Watkins, Chicago, IL, for Illinois State University.

ORDER

MIHM, Chief Judge.

This matter is now before the Court on Magistrate Judge Robert J. Kauffman's Report & Recommendation and two Motions to Dismiss by Defendants. For the reasons set forth herein, the Report & Recommendation [# 128] is adopted in part and rejected in part, Defendants' Motion to Dismiss [# 71] is granted in part and denied in part, and Defendants' Motion to Dismiss [# 18] is granted in part and denied in part as moot.

Background

The relevant facts of this case have been sufficiently set forth in the Report & Recommendation of the Magistrate Judge, as well as the prior Orders of this Court, and need not be restated here. Suffice it to say that this matter is brought on behalf of a class including any female teaching faculty at Illinois State University who was an Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, or full Professor anytime during the period beginning with the 1982-1983 academic year up to and including the present. Plaintiffs allege that the class of women has been paid less than their male counterparts, given considerations of teaching experience, the number of classes and class size they taught, academic papers published, service to the University, and other matters to go to the quality of their services. Plaintiffs further allege that Defendants engaged in retaliation against female professors who complained of their alleged employment practices.

On September 24, 1996, the Court ruled on a motion to dismiss filed with respect to the original Complaint ("Motion to Dismiss 1"). Motion to Dismiss 1 was premised upon the argument that Plaintiffs cannot proceed in federal court on any claims based on the Equal Pay Act because the State of Illinois has not consented to suit. Upon the filing of Plaintiffs' First Amended Complaint, Defendants revived this motion to dismiss, as well as a second motion to dismiss that had been filed prior to the case being transferred to this district ("Motion to Dismiss 2"). Motion to Dismiss 2 challenged Plaintiffs' ability to hold Defendants liable in their individual capacities under Title VII and the Equal Pay Act. This matter then was referred to the Magistrate Judge under Local Rule 72.1 for a report and recommendation.

On May 22, 1997, Magistrate Judge Robert J. Kauffman entered a Report & Recommendation which recommended that the motions be granted in part and denied in part. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 72(b) and 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1), the parties had ten (10) working days after service of the Report & Recommendation to file objections to the Magistrate Judge's decision. Objections were timely filed on behalf of both parties. Additionally, the United States sought and was granted leave to file a brief as Amicus Curiae with respect to the issue of sovereign immunity. This Order follows.

Discussion

In resolving a motion to dismiss, this Court must consider all well-pled facts as true and must draw all inferences in favor of the non-moving party. Bontkowski v. First Nat. Bank of Cicero, 998 F.2d 459, 461 (7th Cir. 1993), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 1012, 114 S.Ct. 602, 126 L.Ed.2d 567 (1993). In ruling on a motion to dismiss, courts consider whether relief is possible under any set of facts that could be established consistent with the allegations in the Complaint. Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 101-02, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957). This Court will dismiss a claim only if it is beyond doubt that no set of facts would entitle the Plaintiffs to relief. Venture Associates Corp. v. Zenith Data Systems Corp., 987 F.2d 429, 432 (7th Cir. 1993).

I. Motion to Dismiss 1 — Sovereign Immunity
A. Equal Pay Act Claims

In their renewed Motion to Dismiss [# 71], Defendants first allege that Plaintiffs' claims under the Equal Pay Act should be dismissed because the State of Illinois has not consented to be sued in federal court under this statute and such a suit is therefore barred by the Eleventh Amendment. Defendants rely on the Supreme Court's decision in Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida, ___ U.S. ___, ___, 116 S.Ct. 1114, 1123, 134 L.Ed.2d 252 (1996), which found:

In order to determine whether Congress has abrogated the States' sovereign immunity, we ask two questions: first, whether Congress has "unequivocally expresse[d] its intent to abrogate the immunity," Green v. Mansour, 474 U.S. 64, 68, 106 S.Ct. 423, 426, 88 L.Ed.2d 371 (1985); and second, whether Congress has acted "pursuant to a valid exercise of power."

Seminole Tribe, ___ U.S. at ___, 116 S.Ct. at 1123.

When last confronted with this issue in September 1996, the Court engaged in substantial analysis of the effect of Seminole Tribe on suits brought pursuant to the Equal Pay Act. Ultimately, the Court determined that the portion of the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") constituting the Equal Pay Act was enacted to prohibit discrimination in pay based on sex in furtherance of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which is a valid exercise of Congressional power.1 After careful consideration of the briefs submitted in connection with this issue, as well as subsequent case authority,2 the Court remains confident that the prior decision is correct and constitutes the law of the case. To the extent that Defendants seek reconsideration of this Court's prior finding that the Equal Pay Act was properly enacted in furtherance of Congress' power under the Fourteenth Amendment, such a request is denied.

However, Defendants now argue for the first time that Congress did not clearly express its intent to abrogate the Eleventh Amendment in enacting the Equal Pay Act. As this Court's September 24, 1996 Order did not contain an in-depth discussion of this aspect of the Seminole Tribe test, the Court will elaborate now in the interest of making a complete record.

The intent to abrogate "must be obvious from `a clear legislative statement.'" Seminole Tribe, ___ U.S. at ___, 116 S.Ct. at 1123, quoting Blatchford v. Native Village of Noatak, 501 U.S. 775, 111 S.Ct. 2578, 2584, 2584, 115 L.Ed.2d 686 (1991). Here, the Equal Pay Act itself contains neither definitions nor enforcement provisions. Rather, such interpretative terms and mechanisms must be drawn from the context of the remainder of the FLSA.

The term "employer: is defined in the FLSA to include[] a public agency," which in turn is defined as "the government of a State or political subdivision thereof" and any agency of a State. 29 U.S.C. § 203(d), (x). The term "employee" is defined to include "any individual employed by a State, political subdivision of a State, or an interstate governmental agency." Id. § 203(e)(2)(C). Finally, the private enforcement provision provides that "[a]n action to recover the liability prescribed ... may be maintained against any employer (including a public agency) in any Federal or State court of competent jurisdiction by any one or more employees for and in behalf of himself or themselves and other employees similarly situated."

Timmer, 104 F.3d at 837-38. Such language makes it abundantly clear that Congress intended to permit actions against states and state agencies under the Equal Pay Act, thereby purposely abrogating sovereign immunity from suit.

Thus, the Court concurs with the other courts which have confronted this question with respect to the FLSA and reached the conclusion that the FLSA's current definitional and enforcement provisions, which are fully applicable to the Equal Pay Act, as well as the accompanying legislative history, provide an unmistakably clear statement of Congress' intent to abrogate the states' sovereign immunity.3 Accordingly, the Court finds that Congress clearly intended to abrogate the States' sovereign immunity from suit through the Equal Pay Act, and the portion of Defendants' Motion to Dismiss which requests dismissal of all claims based on the Equal Pay Act must be denied.

B. Claims for Monetary Damages

In their Objections to the Report & Recommendation, Defendants also raise the new argument that Plaintiffs' claims for monetary damages under § 1981 a are barred by the Eleventh Amendment. Defendants contend that § 1981 a contains no indication of any intent to abrogate sovereign immunity with respect to claims for compensatory and punitive damages, failing to satisfy the Seminole Tribe standard for abrogation of Eleventh Amendment immunity.

With respect to Plaintiffs' claims for punitive damages, the Court agrees with Defendants' position. Under § 1981a, governments, governmental agencies or political subdivisions are expressly excluded from liability for punitive damages. 42 U.S.C. § 1981a(b)(1). This interpretation is further supported by the relevant legislative history, which reveals that the purpose of the language in § 1981 a was to establish that punitive damages are not available against state and local government defendants. See 137 Cong. Rec. S15445-02, S15460, S15472-01, S15484, H9505-01, H9527 (1991). Thus, the Court finds that Congress made no unequivocal expression of intent to abrogate the states' sovereign immunity with respect to punitive damages in enacting § 1981a, and the standard set forth in Seminole Tribe for a valid abrogation of sovereign immunity has not been satisfied. Accordingly, the portion of Plaintiffs' claims in Counts III and IV of the First Amended Complaint seeking punitive...

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