Arkansas whistle-blowers cannot sue state agencies for alleged violations of the law intended to shield them, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday, doubling down on its interpretation of the state’s legal immunity.
A split majority of the high court dismissed a lawsuit brought by a former employee of the Arkansas Department of Community Correction. The employee alleged that she was fired for protesting and investigating discriminatory practices at the department.
The justices — as they did earlier in the year in a lawsuit brought by a former university bookstore employee seeking back wages — ruled that the Arkansas Constitution prevents the Legislature from passing laws that waive the state’s immunity from lawsuits.
Such a waiver had been written into the Arkansas Whistle-Blower Act.
The legal doctrine, known as sovereign immunity, is addressed in Article 5, Section 20, of the state constitution, which states: “The State of Arkansas shall never be made defendant in any of her courts.”
The Supreme Court has recently adopted a strict interpretation of that language.
Writing for the majority, Justice Shawn Womack said, “We interpreted the constitution ‘precisely as it reads.’”
As in the earlier case involving the book store employee, Justices Josephine Hart and Karen Baker dissented.
Read Friday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.