Chris Lusby Taylor Nancy A. Pepple-Gonsalves v. Steve Westly, in His Capacity as Controller of the State of California

Persons whose stock was escheated to the state sued to get it back. The district court held that the Eleventh Amendment barred their claims. We disagree.

Facts.

The dismissal was for lack of subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1). No material disputes of fact have been asserted as to jurisdiction, and the district court acted on the basis of what the plaintiffs pleaded, so we proceed on the basis of the allegations of fact in the complaint.

Although this case was filed as a class action, it never reached the point of class certification vel non. As it comes to us, it is by two individuals against the state controller. One, Chris Taylor, a former Intel employee, lives in England and owns 52,- 224 shares of Intel stock. The other, Nancy Pepple-Gonsalves, a former TWA flight attendant, lives in California, in Riverside County, and owns 7,000 shares of TWA stock. Or at least they did own the stock, before the state took it away.

The state controller took Mr. Taylor’s and Ms. Pepple-Gonsalves’s stock as “unclaimed property.” But these individuals do, in this lawsuit, claim it. The property was treated as unclaimed because for three years…