Friday, May 16, 2003

Fourth Circuit rejects plaintiff's attempt to use Eleventh Amendment in support of remand of case removed by state

In Gustin v. West Virginia University, the Fourth Circuit in a per curiam opinion for the panel of Judges Luttig, Williams, and Gregory concluded that plaintiff could not use West Virginia's Eleventh Amendment protection in support of her motion to remand her case to state court, because even if she somehow had standing to raise the issue, the Eleventh Amendment was waived when WV removed the case.

This is certainly a new twist, plaintiff using Eleventh Amendment, but maybe she knew that her prospects were not good in federal court, and any such fears proved to be true, as the trial court granted summary judgment on all claims and the court of appeals affirmed on all issues.

No comments: