Nevada Department of Human Resources v. Hibbs
United States Supreme Court
538 U.S. 721 (2003)
Hibbs (plaintiff), an employee of the Nevada Department of Human Resources (defendant), was fired after failing to return to work when the state would not extend a 12-week leave he had taken to care for his wife under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Hibbs sued the state in federal court for FMLA violations; the Department argued the Eleventh Amendment barred the suit, the district court agreed, the appellate court reversed, and the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari to resolve a circuit split.
Whether Congress may abrogate state sovereign immunity in federal court where it makes its intent to abrogate unmistakably clear in the statute's language and acts pursuant to a valid exercise of its power under Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment.