Hess v. Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation

Summary

The Court held that PATH does not enjoy Eleventh Amendment immunity from its employees’ federal FELA suits, reversing the Third Circuit and remanding. The Port Authority’s financial independence and the absence of legal or practical state responsibility for its debts meant that these suits threatened neither the States’ solvency nor their dignity. Justice Ginsburg wrote for Justices Stevens, Kennedy, Souter, and Breyer. Justice Stevens also concurred separately, criticizing expansive judge-made sovereign immunity and favoring containment of the doctrine. Justice O’Connor, joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices Scalia and Thomas, dissented, arguing that state control rather than treasury exposure should govern and that the States’ substantial oversight entitled PATH to immunity.