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Laro v. State of New Hampshire

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ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE [Hon. Steven J. McAuliffe, U.S. District Judge]

This case requires us to address the scope of congressional power under Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment to abrogate the immunity of the states from suit in federal court which the states would otherwise enjoy under the Eleventh Amendment and Supreme Court precedent. At issue is whether the creation of a private cause of action against a state for money damages under the personal medical leave provision of the Family and Medical Leave Act, 29 U.S.C. � 2612(a)(1)(D), validly abrogates that immunity as an exercise of Congress’s Section 5 powers.

Following the analytic framework suggested by two recent Supreme Court decisions, Kimel v. Florida Board of Regents, 528 U.S. 62 (2000), and Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama v. Garrett, 531 U.S. 356, 121 S. Ct. 955 (2001), we hold that the FMLA’s personal medical leave provision, 29 U.S.C. � 2612(a)(1)(D) (affording leave for serious personal health conditions), insofar as it authorizes private suits against states, does not validly abrogate the states’ immunity. *fn1 Every circuit court which has addressed the personal medical leave provision of the FMLA in this context has held that that provision does not abrogate the immunity of the state as employer in the face of the Eleventh Amendment. Our holding is narrow: the present legislative record does not demonstrate that the personal medical leave provision of the FMLA is an appropriate response necessary to remedy or prevent unconstitutional gender discrimination practiced by the states as employers.

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