Close v. State of N.Y.

Page 31

125 F.3d 31

134 Lab.Cas. P 33,580, 4 Wage & Hour Cas.2d

(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.

Argued April 23, 1997.

Decided Sept. 4, 1997.

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 moved for partial summary judgment on the issue of liability and New York cross-moved for summary judgment in full, contending, inter alia, that the Eleventh Amendment guarantee of state sovereign immunity deprived the district court of jurisdiction.

The district court initially denied the State's cross-motion for sovereign immunity, holding that the State of New York violated the FLSA and is liable for overtime compensation to certain "qualifying" plaintiffs. See Close v. New York, No. 94-CV-0906, 1996 WL 67979 (N.D.N.Y. Feb. 13, 1996) ("Close I"). In denying the State's motion, the district court relied on Reich v. New York, 3 F.3d 581, 591 (2d Cir.1993) (finding that the clear language of the FLSA demonstrates Congress' intent to abrogate the States' sovereign immunity under the Statute). S...