Court reinstates Nenana woman's lawsuit

FAIRBANKS - A federal appeals court reinstated the lawsuit of a Native woman who says she was unfairly passed over for a classroom-aide position when the job was given to a non-Native.

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Susan Holz's lawsuit against the Nenana City Public School District had been dismissed by a lower court judge, who found that the district was immune from lawsuits under the 11th Amendment because it is an official "arm of the state."

But in an opinion released Thursday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Nenana district is not a state agency.

The case will now likely go back to the lower court for Holz to argue her compensation claims, said her attorney, Mike Walleri.

Holz, a lifelong Nenana resident, applied to be a classroom aide in 1998. The position was partly funded by a federal Indian education grant and included a preference for hiring American Indians, the opinion states.

Holz was passed over for the job in favor of Debbie Moore, a non-Native who was also the School Board president's wife.

Howard Trickey, the school district attorney, said the school district may appeal the ruling.

Holz sued the district as well as district officials Terry Bently, Joanne Romero and Endil Moore in 2000, claiming in her lawsuit that she was unlawfully denied the classroom-aide position as well as positions as a correspondence aide and an account payroll manager.

She alleged the officials violated state and federal civil rights laws as well as the federal Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, a law passed by Congress in 1975 in an effort to promote maximum participation by American Indians in the government and education of American Indian people.

U.S. District Judge James Singleton dismissed Holz's lawsuit based on the district's 11th Amendment immunity claim.

Courts have interpreted the 11th Amendment as granting some state agencies protection from liability claims that could take money from the state treasury.

But the three-judge appeals panel didn't see it that way. The opinion issued Thursday says the U.S. Supreme Court "has consistently refused to construe the (11th) Amendment to afford protection to political subdivisions such as counties and municipalities, even though such entities exercise 'a slice of state power.' "