Federal Law Against Age and Disability Discrimination Meets the Dignity of the States

Abstract

Building on Norma Riccucci’s Review of Public Personnel Administration article on “The U.S. Supreme Court’s New Federalism and Its Impact on Antidiscrimination Legislation,” the present study proceeds by (a) outlining public employees’ federal statutory rights to equal employment opportunity; (b) analyzing state sovereign immunity doctrine; (c) explaining how, when coupled with Fourteenth Amendment equal protection analysis, state sovereign immunity frustrates Congress’ effort to protect state employees from age and disability discrimination; and (d) considering whether jurisprudential concern for the role of the federal courts in the constitutional separation of powers contributes to the Supreme Court’s unwillingness to authorize state employees to litigate their federal statutorily based age and disability claims in federal and state courts. The article concludes that, when combined, the Supreme Court’s state sovereign immunity doctrine and equal protection analysis negate state employees’ federal statutory rights against age and disability discrimination as well as Congress’ Fourteenth Amendment authority to protect these public servants from such disparate treatment.