You cannot sue state agencies for disability discrimination in federal court

 At first glace, of course, this looks like a routine case. The plaintiff argues that he suffered employment discrimination while employed at the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, and he sues under the Americans with Disabilities Act. He names the DMV and individual defendants in the case. But this case runs into a huge problem.

The case is Yerdon v. Poitras, issued on November 5. (The oral argument was only a few days ago). Plaintiff alleges his supervisor removed his job tasks and limited his responsibilities after he told her about his disability. He also got a negative performance review and an "ultimatum." After plaintiff complained about all this internally, he was fired. While the case was dismissed under Rule 12, prior to any discovery, the Court of Appeals (Kearse, Sullivan and Robinson) does not consider whether plaintiff states a claim. That's because the state asserts a soverign immunity defense which would wipe out the case entirely,

The Eleventh Amendment, as interpreted by the Supreme Court, says you cannot sue the state in federal court unless you can shoehorn the case into one of the exceptions to that rule, which holds in sum and substance that the case can proceed in federal court if the case is consistent with Fourteenth Amendment principles. Disability discrimination cases, for the most part, do not involve that exception.

The Second Circuit has never held whether employment discrimination cases under Title I of the ADA may proceed in federal court when the plaintiff is suing the state.But other circuits have addressed this issue, finding that sovereign immunity prohibits such lawsuits because, as the Supreme Court has held, there is no evidence that, under the Fourteenth Amendment, Congress has identified a pattern of irrational state discrimination in employment against the disabled. That means Congress has no authority to abrogate this immunity for plaintiffs who want to the sue the state for these civil rights violations.

The Court further holds that individual defendants cannot be sued for disability discrimination under Title I of the ADA. Under the Second Circuit's statutory construction, only employers may be sued for compensatory and punitive damages. Six other circuits have reached the same conclusion.

Without any viable defendants to sue, plaintiff's case is dismissed. For those who want to proceed with their cases alleging disability discrimination against state agencies, the only recourse is to sue in state court. As this case tells us, federal courts cannot entertain such cases.