Doe

Plaintiff-Appellant Dr. John Doe (“Doe”) appealed the district court’s dismissal of two claims: the first a breach of contract claim against the University of California (“University”), as manager of the Lawrence Liver-more National Laboratory (“Laboratory”); the second a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claim against John Nuckolls (“Nuckolls”), in his official capacity as Director of the Laboratory.

We AFFIRM the district court’s dismissal of the breach of contract claim against the University because it has Eleventh Amendment immunity as decided by the Supreme Court in Regents of the Univ. of Calif. et al. v. Doe, U.S. -, 117 S.Ct. 900 , 137 L.Ed.2d 55 (1997). But we REVERSE the dismissal of the § 1983 claim against Nuc-kolls in his official capacity because Doe’s request for reinstatement constitutes prospective injunctive relief.

*838 Factual and Procedural Background *

Doe is a mathematical physicist with a Ph.D. from Harvard, University. The Laboratory is operated by the University pursuant to , a' contract with the United States Department of Energy (“Department”). Under this contract, the University handles all employment matters for the Laboratory, while the Department controls…