No. 21-1583

Jerry Bird v. Oregon Commission for the Blind, et al.

Lower Court: Ninth Circuit
Docketed: 2022-06-23
Status: Denied
Type: Paid
Response Waived
Tags: 11th-amendment administrative-procedures-act arbitration-process blind-vendor-rights commercial-contract eleventh-amendment federal-arbitration federal-statute sovereign-immunity vending-services
Latest Conference: 2022-09-28
Question Presented (from Petition)

1. Does a State by necessity waive its sovereign immunity from money damages in federal court when it voluntarily enters into a commercial vending services contract with a private individual, and the contract incorporates by reference a "final and binding" arbitration process created by federal statute to resolve contract disputes?

2. Does an arbitration panel convened by a federal agency to decide any grievance between a State and a blind individual under a commercial vending services contract have authority to award attorney fees as part of a make-whole remedy where such fees were previously authorized by prior Ninth Circuit precedent and authorized by the incorporated statutes?

Question Presented (AI Summary)

Does a State waive its sovereign immunity from money damages when it voluntarily enters into a commercial vending services contract with a private individual, and the contract incorporates a federal arbitration process to resolve disputes?

Docket Entries

2022-10-03
Petition DENIED.
2022-08-10
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/28/2022.
2022-07-25
Letter from Department of Education received.
2022-06-27
Waiver of right of respondent Oregon Commission for the Blind to respond filed.
2022-06-20
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due July 25, 2022)

Attorneys

Department of Education
Elizabeth B. PrelogarSolicitor General, Respondent
Jerry Bird
Kristian Spencer RoggendorfThe Zalkin Law Firm, P.C., Petitioner
Oregon Commission for the Blind
Benjamin Noah GutmanOregon Department of Justice, Respondent