Edward R. LANE, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CENTRAL ALABAMA COMMUNITY COLLEGE, Steve Franks, in His Individual Capacity, and Susan Burrow, in Her Official Capacity as Acting President of Central Alabama Community College, Defendants-Appellees.
No. 12-16192
United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.
Nov. 24, 2014.
870 F.Supp.2d 1346
Lisa M. Powell, National Education Association Office of General Counsel, Washington, DC, Adam Wade Pittman, Cory Watson Crowder & Degaris, PC, John David Saxon, Sr., John D. Saxon, PC, Birmingham, AL, for Plaintiff-Appellant.
Stephen N. Fitts, III, Mark T. Waggoner, Hand Arendall, LLC, Birmingham, AL, Jennifer Stapleton Morgan, Hand Arendall, LLC, Mobile, AL, for Defendants-Appellees.
Before MARTIN, FAY, and EDMONDSON, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
The Court hereby vacates its prior opinion, issued on 8 October 2014, and substitutes this corrected opinion.
In Lane v. Cent. Ala. Cmty. Coll., 523 Fed.Appx. 709 (11th Cir.2013) (per curiam), we affirmed the district court‘s grant of summary judgment in favor of Steve Franks, former president of Central Alabama Community College (“CACC“), in Lane‘s
The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari and, in Lane v. Franks, — U.S. —, 134 S.Ct. 2369, 189 L.Ed.2d 312 (2014), affirmed in part and reversed in part our decision and remanded the case for further proceedings. The Supreme Court concluded that Lane‘s subpoenaed trial testimony was protected by the First Amendment. The Supreme Court said that “[t]ruthful testimony under oath by a public employee outside the scope of his ordinary job duties is speech as a citizen for First Amendment purposes . . . even when the testimony relates to his public employment or concerns information learned during that employment.” Id. at 2378. Because Lane testified about a matter of public concern, and because CCAC offered no justification for treating Lane differently from other members of the general public, Lane‘s testimony was protected under the First Amendment. Id. at 2380-81.
Although the Supreme Court ruled that Lane‘s speech was protected by the First Amendment, the Court determined that the constitutional question had not been “beyond debate” when Franks terminated Lane‘s employment. Id. at 2383. As a result, Franks was entitled to qualified immunity from the claim made against him in his individual capacity. Id. Accordingly, the Court affirmed the dismissal of Lane‘s claim against Franks individually. Id.
Because we had declined to decide-and the parties had failed to argue on certiorari review-whether Franks (now Burrow) was entitled to sovereign immunity from Lane‘s official capacity claim seeking equitable relief,2 the Supreme Court remanded the case for further proceedings. Id. We now address the sovereign immunity issue.
The district court concluded that Lane‘s official-capacity claim against Franks for equitable relief was barred by the Eleventh Amendment. We review the district court‘s ruling de novo. See Summit Med. Assocs., P.C. v. Pryor, 180 F.3d 1326, 1334 (11th Cir.1999).
Here, Lane seeks equitable relief in the form of reinstatement of his employment. We have determined previously that requests for reinstatement constitute prospective injunctive relief that fall within the scope of the Ex parte Young exception and, thus, are not barred by the Eleventh Amendment. See Cross v. Ala. State Dep‘t of Mental Health & Mental Retardation, 49 F.3d 1490, 1503 (1995); Lassiter v. Ala. A&M Univ., Bd. of Trs., 3 F.3d 1482, 1485 (11th Cir.1993), vacated on other grounds, 28 F.3d 1146 (11th Cir.1994).
And given our precedents, nothing demonstrates to us that Lane‘s requested reinstatement is considerably different, implicating Alabama‘s sovereignty interests and funds so significantly that the Ex parte Young exception would be inapplicable. In Idaho v. Coeur d‘Alene Tribe, 521 U.S. 261, 117 S.Ct. 2028, 138 L.Ed.2d 438 (1997), the Supreme Court concluded that a state was entitled to Eleventh Amendment protection from a suit asserting ownership in certain submerged land and navigable waterways within the state. The Supreme Court noted that the relief sought was “functional[ly] equivalent” to a quiet title action barred by the Eleventh Amendment. Id. at 2040. Moreover, the requested relief would “diminish, even extinguish, the State‘s control [not just state ownership but the power to regulate or affect in any way] over a vast reach of land and waters long deemed by the State to be an integral part of its territory.” Id. Under the “particular and special circumstances” of the case-where the state‘s sovereign interests “would be affected in a degree fully as intrusive as almost any conceivable retroactive levy upon funds in its Treasury“-the state was entitled to Eleventh Amendment protection. Id. at 2043.
This case is not like Coeur d‘Alene. Here, the special sovereignty interest is lacking: this case does not involve land; Lane‘s requested reinstatement is not the “functional equivalent” of a form of relief otherwise barred by the Eleventh Amendment. Cf. Summit Med. Assocs., 180 F.3d at 1340-41 (distinguishing Coeur d‘Alene).
That Lane‘s reinstatement would require the State to pay Lane‘s salary does not trigger Eleventh Amendment protection. The Supreme Court has recognized that compliance with the terms of prospective injunctive relief will often necessitate the expenditure of state funds. See Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U.S. 651, 94 S.Ct. 1347, 1358, 39 L.Ed.2d 662 (1974). And “[s]uch an ancillary effect on the state treasury is a permissible and often an inevitable consequence of the principle announced in Ex parte Young.” Id.
In the light of our reinstatement precedents, we conclude that the district court erred in dismissing Lane‘s official-capacity claim against Franks as barred by the Eleventh Amendment.
We affirm in part and vacate in part; and we remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion and
AFFIRMED IN PART; VACATED IN PART AND REMANDED FOR FURTHER PROCEEDINGS.