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