Commonwealth v. Mattocks
Case Details
- Status
- Published
- Procedural Posture
- Interlocutory appeal; circuit court denied sovereign immunity plea; Supreme Court reversed and entered final judgment for defendant
Related Laws
No specific laws identified for this ruling.
Claim Types
Outcome
Virginia Supreme Court reversed the circuit court's denial of the Commonwealth's sovereign immunity plea in an action by Department of Corrections employees seeking unpaid overtime, holding that the General Assembly's repeal of the sovereign immunity waiver barred the suit.
Excerpt
A group of employees filed an action against the Commonwealth and the Department of Corrections, seeking to recover for unpaid overtime under a statute enacted in 2021 providing a right for such recovery. When the General Assembly comprehensively overhauled the statute shortly after its enactment, however, it repealed the waiver of sovereign immunity. The present action was filed after the General Assembly repealed the original waiver of sovereign immunity. In response to the complaint, the Commonwealth filed a plea of sovereign immunity. The circuit court denied the plea, and the Commonwealth filed an interlocutory appeal to this Court under Code §§ 8.01-626 and 8.01-670.2. The issue is treated as one implicating subject matter jurisdiction, and in the present appeal the judgment of the circuit court is reversed, and final judgment is entered in favor of the Commonwealth.
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