Slack v. Wash. Metro. Area Transit Auth.
Slack v. Wash. Metro. Area Transit Auth.
Opinion of the Court
Plaintiff Robyn Slack lost her job at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, or WMATA, after refusing to act as the sole point of contact for a procurement contract, which she believed would have violated the law. She sued WMATA for unlawful retaliation and her supervisor, Judy Mewborn, for defamation. WMATA has moved to dismiss two of Ms. Slack's retaliation claims, which arise under the False Claims Act and the District *151of Columbia Whistleblower Protection Act.
I. LEGAL STANDARD
"Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction" and so "possess only that power authorized by Constitution and statute." Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins. Co. of Am. ,
II. ANALYSIS
The Eleventh Amendment generally prohibits a federal court from exercising jurisdiction over claims against a state. U.S. Const. amend. XI ("The 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."); see also Bd. of Trs. of the Univ. of. Ala. v.Garrett ,
But there are two primary exceptions to WMATA's Eleventh Amendment immunity. Barbour v. WMATA ,
A. The FCA Does Not Abrogate Eleventh Amendment Immunity
Count III of Ms. Slack's Complaint alleges whistleblower retaliation in violation of the FCA and can proceed only if Ms. Slack shows that the FCA applies to WMATA. As noted above, Congress can only abrogate Eleventh Amendment immunity if it "unequivocally expresse[s] its intent to abrogate that immunity" and acts within its constitutional authority. Kimel ,
The FCA's whistleblower retaliation provision provides:
Any employee, contractor, or agent shall be entitled to all relief necessary to make that employee, contractor, or agent whole, if that employee, contractor, or agent is discharged, demoted, suspended, threatened, harassed, or in any other manner discriminated against in the terms and conditions of employment because of lawful acts done by the employee, contractor, agent or associated others in furtherance of an action under this section or other efforts to stop [one] or more violations of this subchapter.
First , WMATA argues that the FCA authorizes a lawsuit only against a legal person, which excludes any state agency. Memo. ISO Mot. Dismiss 6-8; Reply ISO Mot. Dismiss 8. According to WMATA, the Supreme Court has already decided this question by holding that state agencies are not persons liable to suit under the FCA's qui tam provision. See Vt. Agency of Nat. Res. v. United States ex rel. Stevens ,
Second , WMATA argues that, even if the FCA could apply to the states, it does not unequivocally express an intent to abrogate sovereign immunity. Reply ISO Mot. Dismiss at 9-11. WMATA is on the right track here. The FCA's whistleblower retaliation provision does not reference the states' sovereign immunity under the Eleventh Amendment.
Although WMATA may logically fall within the FCA's scope because it is an employer that could engage in whistleblower retaliation, this does not make the FCA a clear statement of congressional intent to abrogate sovereign immunity. See Dellmuth ,
B. WMATA Has Not Waived Sovereign Immunity from FCA Lawsuits by Receiving Federal Funds
Although the FCA leaves WMATA's sovereign immunity intact, WMATA could waive that immunity by making a "clear declaration" of intent to submit itself to federal courts' jurisdiction. See Barbour ,
Congress can use its constitutional spending power to "elicit a clear declaration" of consent to suit from recipients of federal program funding, but only if Congress communicates "a clear intent to condition participation in the programs funded under [an] Act on a State's consent to *154waive its constitutional immunity." Barbour ,
Ms. Slack argues that WMATA has similarly waived its sovereign immunity from FCA lawsuits by receiving federal funds. Opp. to Mot. Dismiss 12-15. But Ms. Slack does not show that Congress used its spending power to condition funding on a waiver of sovereign immunity as to FCA claims. Instead, Ms. Slack argues that the Federal Transit Authority, or FTA, conditioned funding on a contractual waiver. See id. at 13 ("This case involves another way WMATA manifested its intent to waive immunity: it entered into agreement to receive funds from the FTA ...."). Id. at 13. Notably, Ms. Slack bears the burden of establishing the Court's jurisdiction but cites no precedent to show that Congress can use its spending power to demand that a state waive its Eleventh Amendment rights without the type of clear congressional statement required by Barbour . She has not shown that Congress, by a silent, implicit delegation of authority, can open the door for expansions of federal power that it otherwise could not have accomplished without satisfying a stringent clear-statement rule. Cf. FDA v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. ,
Even if the FTA could exact a contractual waiver of sovereign immunity in exchange for federal funds, none of the three alleged contractual waivers to which Ms. Slack points shows a clear consent to third-party FCA lawsuits such as her own. First , Ms. Slack points to language in the FTA Master Agreement requiring recipients of federal funds to comply with all applicable federal laws and to acknowledge and agree to the applicability of federal laws on civil fraud. Opp. to Mot. Dismiss 13-14. But there are at least three reasons this language does not authorize this Court to take jurisdiction over Ms. Slack's FCA claim. The first reason is that an explicit but general agreement to obey federal law is "a customary condition for any participation in a federal program" and "can hardly be deemed an express waiver of Eleventh Amendment immunity." Fla. Dep't of Health and Rehabilitative Servs. v. Fla. Nursing Home Ass'n ,
Second , Ms. Slack points to language in the FTA Master Agreement requiring recipients of federal funds to "comply *155with applicable Federal civil rights laws," including "applicable Federal nondiscrimination laws," and warning recipients that remedies for civil rights violations could be enforced as provided by federal law. Opp. to Mot. Dismiss 14-15. These contractual provisions are too broad to constitute a clear consent to suit under the FCA, particularly since none of WMATA's enumerated civil rights obligations relate to discrimination based on whistleblower activity. See Sossamon ,
Third , Ms. Slack asserts that the FTA expects WMATA to comply with a 45-page list of federal laws including the FCA. Pl.'s Sur-Reply 2. But Ms. Slack supports this claim only by attaching a 45-page list of laws. Nothing in the record shows why the FTA would expect WMATA to comply with these laws, suggests that WMATA has consented to suit under these laws, or shows that WMATA's consent extends to third parties like Ms. Slack. This alleged contractual agreement, like the alleged waivers under the FTA Master Agreement, does not satisfy Ms. Slack's burden of establishing this Court's jurisdiction over her FCA claim.
Ms. Slack also argues that she has a right to discovery into other agreements between WMATA and the federal government that might include contractual waivers of immunity. Opp. to Mot. Dismiss 12, 15. But Ms. Slack has not alleged facts showing a good-faith belief that discovery will enable her to establish this Court's jurisdiction. Her mere speculation that discovery might reveal a contract that clearly creates a third-party right to sue WMATA under the FCA does not provide grounds for discovery. See FC Inv. Grp. v. IFX Markets, Ltd. ,
Because Congress did not abrogate WMATA's sovereign immunity by passing the FCA and because Ms. Slack has not shown that WMATA waived its immunity from private FCA claims by accepting federal funds, this Court lacks jurisdiction over Count I of her Complaint.
Count I of Ms. Slack's Complaint alleges whistleblower retaliation in violation of the DCWPA and can go forward only if Ms. Slack shows that Virginia and Maryland have consented to suits against WMATA under the DCWPA. States can make a clear declaration of consent to suit by enacting statutes that waive their immunity. Port Auth. Trans-Hudson Corp. v. Feeney ,
In the context of an interstate compact like WMATA, "one signatory may not impose its legislative enactment upon the entity created by it without the express *156consent of the other signatories and of the Congress of the United States." Lucero-Nelson v. WMATA ,
Ms. Slack argues that Virginia and Maryland have consented to suit under the DCWPA by passing whistleblower protection laws of their own. Opp. to Mot. Dismiss 16-24. To support this view, she points out that Virginia and Maryland law mirrors District of Columbia law in three ways. First, each jurisdiction prohibits employers from retaliating against whistleblowers. Va. Code § 2.2-3011(A)-(C) ; Md. State Personnel & Pensions Code § 5-305 ;
But this line of argument fails for at least two reasons. First , the DCWPA does not apply to WMATA by its own terms. The DCWPA states that it "shall apply to employees of the WMATA when the Commonwealth of Virginia and the State of Maryland enact similar provisions for WMATA whistleblowers."
Second , consent to suit under one whistleblower protection law is not consent to suit under all whistleblower protection laws. Perhaps District law could apply to WMATA if Virginia and Maryland had enacted identical statutes clearly consenting to suit. See Feeney ,
A few examples will highlight the substantive differences between each jurisdiction's law. First, each jurisdiction places different conditions on whistleblower protection. Va. Code § 2.2-3011(A)-(C) (protecting employees who make a disclosure in good faith); Md. State Personnel & Pensions Code § 5-306 (excluding employees who make disclosures prohibited by law-presumably Maryland and federal law-except if made to the Maryland Attorney General under another Maryland statute);
Ms. Slack argues that Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia have made a clear declaration of consent to suit by contractually waiving WMATA's immunity from whistleblower retaliation claims. Opp. to Mot. Dismiss 16-19. But this argument depends on the idea that their course of conduct has modified the WMATA Compact. Id. at 17. And the course of conduct to which Ms. Slack points is "passing similar legislation." Id. at 16; see also id. at 18. The only textual hook that Ms. Slack provides for her contract argument that could distinguish it from her statutory waiver argument is a provision in the Compact allowing amendment by legislative action "concurred in by all the others." See id at 17-18. But she has not shown how Virginia and Maryland concurred in the amendment to the WMATA Compact proposed by the DCWPA. So Ms. Slack's contract argument merges with the statutory waiver argument and fails for the same reasons.
Other judges of this District have already held that the DCWPA does not apply to WMATA, including at least one decision rendered after Virginia allegedly triggered the DCWPA's application by passing its whistleblower protection statute.
*158See Ndzerre v. WMATA ,
III. CONCLUSION
For the reasons stated above, WMATA's Motion to Dismiss Counts I and III of the Complaint will be granted. A separate order will issue.
Ms. Slack's defamation claim and her retaliation claims under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the National Defense Authorization Act are not at issue in WMATA's Motion to Dismiss.
WMATA focuses on the sovereign immunity conferred by Virginia and Maryland acting as states protected by the Eleventh Amendment. See, e.g. , Reply ISO Mot. Dismiss 5. Congress, acting on behalf of the District of Columbia, may have cloaked WMATA in the sovereign immunity of the United States as well. See Morris ,
As for the requirement that Congress act within its constitutional authority, Ms. Slack argues, and WMATA does not dispute, that the FCA falls within the scope of Congress's spending power. Opp. to Mot. Dismiss 11; see also South Dakota v. Dole ,
The public employer in Wilkins appears to have been one of those "lesser entities" that "is not an arm of the State" and so lacks sovereign immunity. See Alden v. Maine ,
Given this conclusion, the Court need not determine whether Congress has consented to the application of the DCWPA to WMATA, although WMATA does not meaningfully contest Ms. Slack's argument that Congress manifested its acceptance of the DCWPA, including its provisions about WMATA, by approving the DCWPA under the Home Rule Act. See Opp. to Mot. Dismiss 18 (arguing congressional consent); Reply ISO Mot. Dismiss 15 (summarily asserting that Congress has not consented without addressing the Home Rule Act).
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Robyn SLACK v. WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA TRANSIT AUTHORITY
- Cited By
- 8 cases
- Status
- Published