Clarence Lowe v. Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District

The Federal Employers Liability Act (“FELA”) provides injured railroad workers with a federal cause of action to obtain redress for their injuries resulting from the negligence of their employer. FELA actions brought in a state court are governed by federal substantive law and state procedural law. While the States and arms of the States can claim sovereign immunity from a federal cause of action, this constitutionally protected immunity from suit does not extend to lesser governmental entities like municipal corporations and political subdivisions. Additionally, when these lesser governmental entities are subjected to a federal cause of action, a state’s authority to set the conditions upon which these entities are subject to suit in its own courts must yield to the enactment of Congress. And while state courts may apply their own neutral procedural rules to federal causes of action brought in state courts, a state notice-of-claim statute is not a mere procedural rule; it’s a substantive condition on the right to sue. THE QUESTIONS PRESENTED ARE:

1. Did the Indiana Supreme Court err in holding that the State of Indiana’s sovereign immunity extends to the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (“NICTD”), a distinct municipal corporation and political subdivision, in Clarence Lowe’s FELA suit against NICTD?

2. Did the Indiana Supreme Court err in holding that the Indiana Tort Claims Act’s notice-of-claim statute for political subdivisions not only applies to, but also bars Lowe’s FELA suit against NICTD, absent strict compliance with its provisions?