Nevada Department of Human Resources v. William Hibbs

Summary

The Court held that state employees may recover money damages in federal court for a State's violation of the Family and Medical Leave Act's family-care provision. Congress clearly expressed its intent to abrogate state sovereign immunity, and the provision was a valid exercise of Congress's enforcement power because it was congruent and proportional to the documented pattern of gender-based discrimination in leave administration. Several Justices dissented, arguing that the statute imposed a substantive entitlement rather than a remedial measure.