Emory University News Release

Release date: May 16, 2002
Contact: Elaine Justice, Associate Director, Media Relations,
at 404-727-0643 or ejustic@emory.edu

Law Professor Successfully Argues U.S. Supreme Court Case

HIGH COURT RULES AGAINST IMMUNITY, FOR PROFESSOR
Bill Rankin

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday granted a legal victory to a Georgia college professor in a case that now makes it easier to sue state governments.

The high court sided with Paul Lapides, assistant professor of management at Kennesaw State University, in repudiating Georgia's handling of his lawsuit against the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.

"It really feels great," Lapides said. "Now 280 million Americans don't have to fight the same battle I fought." Two years ago, Lapides filed a slander and defamation lawsuit in Cobb County Superior Court over the university's handling of a sexual harassment complaint against him.

The Board of Regents, represented by the state Attorney General's Office, moved the case from state court into federal court in Atlanta. There, the state claimed immunity under the 11th Amendment, which shields states from many types of litigation.

But Justice Stephen Breyer, writing for a unanimous court, said that to allow states to use this litigation strategy "could generate seriously unfair results." When states move cases to federal court they must now waive immunity, he wrote.

Emory University law professor David Bederman, who argued Lapides' case, said states can no longer use immunity "as both a shield and a sword."

Sovereign immunity is a long-held legal concept based on the idea that a government can't be held liable in courts of its own creation. It is a gift granted to the states under the U.S. Constitution and it "should not be squandered or abused as a kind of litigation game," Bederman said. "States need to make judgments and then live with them. What they can't do is engage in gamesmanship and use the 11th Amendment as kind of a 'gotcha' exercise."

Russ Willard, a spokesman for the state Attorney General's Office, said Georgia had a valid legal argument and noted that 30 state attorneys general filed a brief in support of its position. "Our office will factor the court's decision into future decisions on whether to remove state court cases…to federal court," he said.

Lapides, who estimates he has spent more than $400,000 in legal fees so far, said he is eager to get his case before a jury. His lawsuit said that while Kennesaw State's investigation found the harassment claim against him to be unfounded, the school unfairly stated in a letter that another student had unspecified "concerns" about his conduct.

In its ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court said Lapides' case should be sent back to Cobb County court, where the professor wanted to pursue his claims.

Staff writer Doug Payne contributed to this article.