SEPTA is not an arm of the state and therefore does not have 11th Amendment sovereign immunity from railroad workers’ state claims under the Federal Employers Liability Act, the state Supreme Court ruled in a case of first impression.
The unanimous decision by the six justices in the consolidated cases of Goldman v. SEPTA and Davis v. SEPTA is a major victory for the plaintiffs whose claims would have been barred from both state and federal courts, and opens SEPTA up to liability under any federal law passed under the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, said attorneys for the plaintiffs in the case.
