Fourth Circuit: State Courts Lack Jurisdiction over Title VII Claims

Jon Harkavy (Patterson & Harkavy) writes to tell us of Bullock v. Napolitano.  Rather than re-invent the wheel, I'll just post Jon's description of the case:

[The] Fourth Circuit ...decision of [Bullock v. Napolitano], issued Monday afternoon, [] effectively forecloses the ability of a federal employee to file a Title VII decision in state court.  Judge Niemeyer wrote the majority opinion based largely on Title VII's silence about a waiver of governmental immunity in state court suits.  Judge Gregory wrote a dissent that provoked a somewhat pointed rejoinder by footnote in the majority opinion.  The issue may be cert-worthy, especially if other circuits have disagreed with the majority.  In any event, I thought readers of the blog (and their students) would be interested in the juxtaposition of the two opinions.

rb