Department of Corrections v. Furr

JOHNSTONE, Justice.

In this case, we address the single issue of whether the Commonwealth of Kentucky has waived sovereign immunity for claims brought under the Kentucky Civil Rights Act. KRS Chapter 344. We hold that it has and affirm the Court of Appeals.

Appellee, Dorsey Furr, filed suit against Appellants alleging gender discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation in violation of the Kentucky Civil Rights Act. Subsequently, Appellants filed a motion for summary judgment, which the trial court granted as to Furr’s retaliation claim on grounds that there was no evidence of adverse or retaliatory action against Furr. The case proceeded to trial on the underlying issues of gender discrimination and sexual harassment, and the jury returned a verdict in favor of the Appellants.

Appellants raised the issue of sovereign immunity for the first time on appeal to the Court of Appeals. See Wells v. Commonwealth Department of Highways, Ky., 384 S.W.2d 308 (1964) (because sovereign immunity can only be waived by the General Assembly, it can be raised as a defense for the first time on appeal). The Court of Appeals held that Furr’s claim was not barred by the doctrine of sovereign immunity. Further, the Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s grant of summary judgment on the retaliation claim and affirmed the part of the trial court’s judgment based upon the jury’s verdict in favor of the Appellants. We granted discretionary review on the issue of whether the General Assembly has waived sovereign immunity for claims brought under the Kentucky Civil Rights Act.

The line demarcating where the doctrine of sovereign immunity applied and where it did not apply was long drawn in shifting sands before we chiseled the line in stone in Withers v. University of Kentucky, Ky., 939 S.W.2d 340 (1997). In Withers, we held, “We will find waiver only where stated ‘by the most express language or by such overwhelming implications from the text as [will] leave no room for any other reasonable construction.’ ” Id. at 346 quoting Murray v. Wilson Distilling Company, 213 U.S. 151, 171, 29 S.Ct. 458, 464-65, 53 L.Ed. 742 (1909).

In its brief analysis of this issue, applying the Withers standard, the Court of Appeals reasoned:

KRS 344.030(2) defines “employer” in pertinent part as “a person who has eight (8) or more employees within the state ....” KRS 344.010(1) defines “person” as used in KRS Chapter 344 to include “the state, any of its political or civil subdivisions or agencies.” (Emphasis added). The very definition of “person” as adopted by our General Assembly specifically names the state as an employer for purposes of KRS Chapter 344, thus effecting a waiver of sovereign immunity by “overwhelming implication.”

Furr v. Department of Corrections, Ky. App., 1997-CA-002550-MR at 4 (January 29,1999).

Appellants argue that the above does not create the overwhelming implication of waiver of sovereign immunity and, thus, the Court of Appeals must be reversed. We disagree.

In addition to the analysis of the' Court of Appeals, we find further support for our holding in the Kentucky Civil Rights Act itself. One of the purposes of KRS Chapter 344 is:

To safeguard all individuals within the state from discrimination ...; thereby to protect their interest in personal dignity and freedom from humiliation, to make available to the state their full productive capacities, to secure the states against domestic strife and unrest which would menace its democratic institutions, to preserve the public safety, health, and general welfare, and to further the interest, rights, and privileges of individuals within the state.

KRS 344.020(l)(b) (emphasis added).

These words contain a solemn and hard won promise to all the people of the Commonwealth. The promise was made by the Commonwealth to its citizens through the General Assembly. What hollow words indeed if the safeguard against discrimination does not include the right to be free from of acts of discrimination committed by the Commonwealth itself, or in its name.

The doctrine of sovereign immunity sweeps broadly. It shields inter alia counties,¹ boards of education,² public universities, university hospitals and all “departments, boards or agencies that are such integral parts of state government as to come within regular patterns of administrative organization and structure.”³ To immunize the Commonwealth from the application of the Kentucky Civil Rights Act frustrates the act’s purpose and intent, deprives many of its citizens of its protection, and renders meaningless its pledge to safeguard all individuals from discrimination. Such a construction is neither tenable nor tolerable.

Finally, we address the argument that the General Assembly did not intend to waive sovereign immunity because the remedy provision of KRS 344.450 provides for neither an express cause of action against the Commonwealth nor an “implied” cause of action against the Commonwealth. The argument does not withstand scrutiny.

KRS 344.450 is completely silent concerning against whom a cause of action may be brought. Rather, the statute simply provides a remedy for “any act in violation of the provisions of this chapter _” Thus, we are directed to the particular acts that constitute a violation of the chapter in order to determine against whom a cause of action may be brought. In this case, the applicable statute provides, “It is unlawful practice for an employer ....” KRS 344.040. And as shown above, the definition of employer includes a “person,” which is defined to include the state, any of its political or civil subdivisions, or agencies. KRS 344.010(1). Thus, by overwhelming implication, KRS 344.450 provides a cause of action against the Commonwealth for violations of the Kentucky Civil Rights Act. This is as it should be.

For the foregoing reasons, the opinion of the Court of Appeals is hereby affirmed.

GRAVES, STUMBO, and WINTERSHEIMER, JJ., concur. COOPER, J., dissents by separate opinion, with LAMBERT, C.J., and KELLER, J., joining that dissent.

1 . Franklin County, Kentucky v. Malone, Ky., 957 S.W.2d 195, 203 (1997).

2 . Clevinger v. Board of Education of Pike County, Ky., 789 S.W.2d 5, 9 (1990).

3 . Withers, 939 S.W.2d at 344.