Bank of Lake Tahoe Joseph Bourdeau v. The Bank of America State of Nevada, Financial Institutions Division Robert Geerhart

We consider in this case whether the state of Nevada waived its Eleventh Amendment immunity by removing a law suit from state to federal court. We address this question only in the context of claims brought under state law because no valid federal claims have been brought against Nevada. Bound by the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Lapides v. Board of Regents, 535 U.S. 613 , 122 S.Ct. 1640 , 152 L.Ed.2d 806 (2002), which squarely addressed this issue, we conclude that Nevada waived its immunity from the state-law claims by joining in the removal of the case to federal court.

I. Background

This appeal arises out of Joseph Bour-deau’s (“Bourdeau”) efforts to charter a new financial institution, Bank of Lake Tahoe (“BLT”), following his forced resignation from Bank of America, N.A. (“Bank of America”).

Bourdeau is a former manager of Bank of America’s Incline Village branch in Nevada. Based on an investigation that revealed numerous violations of internal policy, Bourdeau was forced to resign. He then applied to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) and the State of Nevada Financial Institutions Division (“FID”) for approval to organize and operate a new…