Christopher H. Harris v. Asa Hutchinson, Individually and in His Official Capacity as Governor of the State of Arkansas; And Patrick Fisk, Individually and in His Official Capacity, 591 S.W.3d 778

Background

Harris, an employee of the Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Commission (Dept. of Agriculture), interviewed candidates for a field livestock-inspector job in March 2018.
He selected the most qualified candidate (Morgan Keener); Governor Hutchinson favored an allegedly unqualified candidate and directed Deputy Director Fisk to have Harris hire that person.
Harris refused to hire the governor’s preferred candidate (claiming State policy required hiring the most qualified) and was terminated the next day for insubordination.
Harris sued Hutchinson and Fisk in their individual capacities under the Arkansas Whistle-Blower Act (AWBA) and the state and federal constitutions, and sought reinstatement/injunctive relief; defendants moved to dismiss asserting sovereign, statutory, and qualified immunity and failure to state a claim.
The circuit court dismissed all claims solely on sovereign-immunity grounds; on appeal the Arkansas Supreme Court affirmed dismissal of official-capacity claims but reversed as to individual-capacity claims and remanded.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether sovereign immunity bars official-capacity claims	Harris: Andrews/Barnes shouldn’t block AWBA/constitutional relief; article 2 or 6 (or governor’s signature) overrides sovereign immunity	Defs: Sovereign immunity bars suits against the State and official-capacity suits are suits against the State	Held: Sovereign immunity bars official-capacity claims; legislative waiver (AWBA) invalid under Andrews/Barnes and governor’s signature does not waive immunity
Whether AWBA validly waived sovereign immunity	Harris: Legislature intended to subject State to liability under AWBA; governor’s signature effectuates waiver	Defs: Legislative “waiver” is ineffective against constitutional sovereign immunity; governor cannot unilaterally waive	Held: AWBA’s waiver cannot overcome constitutional sovereign immunity per Andrews/Barnes; governor’s signature does not waive immunity
Whether allegations invoke ultra vires / illegal / unconstitutional exception to sovereign immunity	Harris: Alleged facts show he reported misuse of public funds and was fired for refusing illegal/unlawful directive; seeks injunctive relief (not damages)	Defs: Allegations are conclusory and fail to plead facts showing official acted illegally/ultra vires	Held: Majority: allegations are conclusory and fail to plead the exception; dissent: allegations suffice. Court applied pleading standards and rejected the exception here
Whether sovereign immunity barred individual-capacity claims and proper disposition	Harris: Suits were only against officials individually; seek damages against individuals and injunctive relief	Defs: Assert statutory and qualified immunity for individual-capacity claims; circuit court dismissed all claims on sovereign-immunity basis	Held: Sovereign immunity does not apply to individual-capacity claims; dismissal of individual-capacity claims on sovereign-immunity grounds was error and case remanded for further proceedings on those claims

Key Cases Cited

Bd. of Trs. of Univ. of Ark. v. Andrews, 2018 Ark. 12, 535 S.W.3d 316 (legislative waivers of sovereign immunity invalid under Ark. Const.)
Ark. Cmty. Corr. v. Barnes, 2018 Ark. 122, 542 S.W.3d 841 (applying Andrews to AWBA waiver issue)
Milligan v. Singer, 2019 Ark. 177, 574 S.W.3d 653 (governor’s signature does not waive sovereign immunity; sovereign immunity analysis)
Banks v. Jones, 2019 Ark. 204, 575 S.W.3d 111 (official-capacity suits equate to suits against the State; pleading required to invoke ultra vires exception)
Martin v. Haas, 2018 Ark. 283, 556 S.W.3d 509 (sovereign immunity does not bar declaratory/equitable relief for illegal/unconstitutional acts)
Ark. Tech. Univ. v. Link, 341 Ark. 495, 17 S.W.3d 809 (suit against state office/judgment controlling state action barred by sovereign immunity)
Bryant v. Ark. State Highway Comm’n, 233 Ark. 41, 342 S.W.2d 415 (historical rejection of argument that other constitutional provisions trump sovereign immunity)
Worden v. Kirchner, 2013 Ark. 509, 431 S.W.3d 243 (pleading standard on motion to dismiss)
Wilson v. Ark. Dep’t of Human Servs., 2018 Ark. 358, 562 S.W.3d 201 (procedural aspects of asserting sovereign immunity defense)
McCullough v. Univ. of Ark. for Med. Scis., 559 F.3d 855 (First Amendment retaliation standard)