Rudy C. Aguon v. Commonwealth Ports Authority Antonio B. Cabrera

Defendants-Appellants Commonwealth Ports Authority (“CPA”) and Antonio B. Cabrera (“Cabrera”) appeal from the judgment in favor of Plaintiff-Appellee Rudy Aguon (“Aguon”) and the denial of their motions filed pursuant to Rule 50(b) and Rule 59 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The dispositive issue in this case is-whether the CPA, as a public corporation created by the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (“the Commonwealth”) to operate and manage its ports, and Cabrera, acting in his official capacity, are subject to liability pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for damages for violating federal law under color of the Commonwealth’s laws.

We conclude that the CPA is not a person under § 1983 because it is an instrumentality of the Commonwealth. Therefore, the judgment against CPA and Cabrera must be reversed.

I

Prior to filing this § 1983 action, Aguon had been employed by CPA as a tariff control technician for approximately six years. In 1997, CPA reduced the number of its employees and initiated a program referred to as “Cross Utilization.” Under this program, the hours of the work week were reduced and CPA employees were required to perform duties not listed in…