International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers v. United States

934 F. Supp. 2d 816, 2013 WL 1285871, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 46735
CourtDistrict Court, D. Maryland
DecidedApril 1, 2013
DocketCivil Action Nos. 12-cv-03448-AW, 12-cv-02297-AW
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 934 F. Supp. 2d 816 (International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers v. United States, 934 F. Supp. 2d 816, 2013 WL 1285871, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 46735 (D. Md. 2013).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

ALEXANDER WILLIAMS, JR., District Judge.

Pending before the Court are two Motions to Dismiss. Defendants United States, Secretary of the United States Senate Nancy Erickson, and Sergeant at Arms of the Senate Terrance W. Gainer move to dismiss on the grounds that Plaintiffs’ claims are barred by sovereign immunity and that venue is improper in this district. Doc. No. 32. Defendant Karen L. Haas, Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, moves to dismiss on the same grounds, and also argues that Plaintiffs lack standing and have failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Doc. No. 33. The Court has reviewed the motion papers and concludes that no hearing is necessary. See Loe. R. 105.6 (D.Md.2011). For the reasons articulated below, Defendants’ Motions are GRANTED-IN-PART. Plaintiffs’ claims against Defendant United States are barred by sovereign immunity and are therefore dismissed with prejudice. Although Plaintiffs’ claims against the remaining individual Defendants are not barred by sovereign immunity, venue is not proper in this district. Accordingly, the Court dismisses without prejudice Plaintiffs’ claims against the individual Defendants.1

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs have brought suit to enjoin implementation of section 8(a)(1) of the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act. Section 8(a)(1), as amended, requires online posting of Financial Disclosure Forms submitted by covered employees of the legislative branch of the United States government:

Not later than [April 15, 2013], or 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, whichever is later, the Secretary of the Senate and the Sergeant at Arms of the Senate, and the Clerk of the House of Representatives, shall ensure that fi[819]*819nancial disclosure forms filed by ... employees of Congress ... are made available to the public on the respective official websites of the Senate and the House of Representatives not later than 30 days after such forms are filed. ■

Pub. L. No. 112-105, 126 Stat. 291 (Apr. 4, 2012).2

Plaintiffs in this case include the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, AFL-CIO & CLC (IFPTE), an international union comprised of local union affiliates that directly represent employees in their dealings with employers such as the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Congressional Research Service (CRS). The IFPTE represents approximately 120 Financial Disclosure Form filers employed by these two legislative branch agencies. Individual Plaintiffs Timothy Persons and Nancy Kingsbury are employees of GAO and residents of Maryland. Individual Plaintiff Dennis Roth is a former employee of CRS, while individual Plaintiff Nina Serafino is a current employee of CRS. Ml the individual Plaintiffs have been responsible for filing Financial Disclosure Forms for the last several years. Defendants are the United States, the Secretary of the Senate, the Sergeant at Mms of the Senate, and the Clerk of the House of Representatives. The individual Defendants are sued in their official capacities only.

Plaintiffs assert that implementing section 8 of the STOCK Act will violate their right to privacy under the United States Constitution, and that retroactive application of Section 8 to Financial Disclosure Forms filed by Plaintiffs prior to the STOCK Act’s passage would violate their rights under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution. Plaintiffs seek a declaratory judgment that section 8 of the STOCK Act as applied to Plaintiffs and other non-elected legislative branch employees is unconstitutional. Plaintiffs further request an order enjoining all Defendants, preliminarily and permanently, from making Financial Disclosure Forms of non-elected legislative branch employees or the information contained in them available on the Internet. Plaintiffs also seek an order enjoining Defendants from requiring non-elected legislative branch employees to submit the forms as long as such information is subject to Internet publication by Defendants.

Plaintiffs filed this action on November 21, 2012, and moved for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction on November 30, 2012. After Congress extended the Internet publication deadline from December 8, 2012 to April 15, 2013, the Court denied as moot Plaintiffs’ motions. On January 11, 201.3, the Court denied Plaintiffs’ motion to stay proceedings. Plaintiffs filed their Amended Complaint on January 18 and Defendants filed the pending Motions to Dismiss on February 1 and February 4. The Motions have been fully briefed and are ripe for the Court’s consideration.

II. ANALYSIS

1. Sovereign Immunity

“As a sovereign the United States ‘is immune from suit save as it consents to be sued ... and the terms of its consent to be sued in any court define that court’s jurisdiction to entertain the suit.’ ” McLean v. United States, 566 F.3d 391, 401 (4th Cir.2009) (quoting United [820]*820States v. Testan, 424 U.S. 392, 399, 96 S.Ct. 948, 47 L.Ed.2d 114 (1976)). This sovereign immunity extends to the United States Congress when it is sued as a branch of the government. McLean, 566 F.3d at 401. In their oppositions to Defendants’ Motions to Dismiss, Plaintiffs concede that Defendant United States has not waived sovereign immunity with respect to this litigation. See Doc. No. 38 at 2; Doc. No. 39 at 1, 12-15 (asserting only that the individual Defendant is not immune from suit). Accordingly, the United States is dismissed from this action, and the claims against it are dismissed with prejudice.

Defendants also argue that Plaintiffs’ claims against the individual Defendants in their official capacities are barred by sovereign immunity. As a general matter, a claim against a federal official for acts performed within his or her official capacity amounts to an action against the sovereign and is therefore barred by sovereign immunity. Portsmouth Redev. & Hous. Auth. v. Pierce, 706 F.2d 471, 473 (4th Cir.1983). However, the Supreme Court has recognized an important exception to this general rule. In Larson v. Domestic and Foreign Commerce Corp., 337 U.S. 682, 684, 69 S.Ct. 1457, 93 L.Ed. 1628 (1949), a company brought suit against the head of the War Assets Administration seeking to enjoin the Administrator from selling or delivering coal to anyone but the plaintiff company. The Court upheld the district court’s dismissal of the suit as one against the sovereign, but in doing so, recognized that not all suits for specific relief against officers of the sovereign are suits against the sovereign. Id. at 689, 69 S.Ct. 1457. One such exceptional case is “that in which the statute or order conferring power upon the officer to take action in the sovereign’s name is claimed to be unconstitutional.... [Injunctions against the threatened enforcement of unconstitutional statutes [is a] familiar example[ ] of this type.” Id. at 690, 69 S.Ct. 1457. The Court reasoned that in such cases, “the conduct against which specific relief is sought is beyond the officer’s powers and is, therefore, not the conduct of the sovereign.” Id.

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Bluebook (online)
934 F. Supp. 2d 816, 2013 WL 1285871, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 46735, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/international-federation-of-professional-technical-engineers-v-united-mdd-2013.