Federal Court Has No Jurisdiction Of Suit Against State College Officials For Wrongfully Withholding Degree
TURPIN v. KOROPCHAK (June 5, 2009)
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Christi Turpin thought she obtained a Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University. She completed all her coursework and she wrote and defended her thesis. She alleges that each member of her dissertation committee approved the defense of her thesis. Years later, she learned that the school had not recorded her degree. When she made inquiry, several members of the committee allegedly denied that they approved the thesis. Turpin brought suit against the thesis committee members for specific performance to confer her degree and damages. The district court dismissed the case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. It held that the suit was actually against the State of Illinois and belonged in the Court of Claims. Turpin appeals.
In their opinion, Judges Kanne, Evans and Dow affirmed. Sovereign immunity, stated the Court, precludes federal jurisdiction of the action if the allegations of misconduct arise out of a breach of a duty imposed on the defendant solely because of his or her state employment. Here, the only duties of the defendants with respect to Turpin's degree arise out of their employment by the state university. The case belongs in a Court of Claims.
Michael Rigney practices in the law offices of GVC Ltd. in Chicago. In this blog, he reports on select