State of Alaska v. Eeoc

Facts

Lydia Jones and Margaret Ward worked in the office of then-Governor Walter Hickel of Alaska. Both were fired 5066 STATE OF ALASKA v. EEOC under disputed circumstances and filed complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Jones alleged that she was paid less because she is a black woman, sexually harassed and then retaliated against for complaining about the harassment. Ward alleged that she was paid less on account of her sex and that she was terminated because of statements she made supporting Jones’s complaint.

The EEOC assigned the cases to an administrative law judge. Before the ALJ, Alaska argued that Jones and Ward’s claims were barred by sovereign immunity. The ALJ dis- agreed. On interlocutory appeal, the EEOC denied the sover- eign immunity defense and remanded for further proceedings. The state petitions for review of the EEOC’s decision.

Analysis

[1] The Eleventh Amendment protects states from being sued without their consent. This immunity applies by its terms to the judicial power, but the Supreme Court has held that 1 A remand order is not a final agency decision, and so would not nor- mally fall within our jurisdiction.…