Opinion
Civ. No. JFM-95-3747.
October 30, 1998.
MEMORANDUM
Defendant, Two Parcels of Land in Prince George's County, Maryland, The Estate of Robert A. Hatton, Sr., et al. ("Hatton") has filed a motion for attorneys' fees and costs pursuant to Section 204(a) of the Equal Access to Justice Act ("EAJA"), 28 U.S.C. § 2412. That motion will be denied.
Plaintiff Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority ("WMATA") is entitled to sovereign immunity because, in the WMATA Compact establishing and governing its existence, the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia conferred their sovereign immunities upon it. See Morris v. WMATA, 781 F.2d 218, 219 (D.C. Cir. 1986). The WMATA Compact also "expressly exempts WMATA from federal law, except where related to safety or where expressly provided for by the Compact." McKenna v. WMATA, 670 F. Supp. 7, 11 (D.D.C. 1986).
"Attorneys' fees may be assessed against [a sovereign] only when it has waived its sovereign immunity by statute." United States v. Dawkins, 629 F.2d 972, 975 (4th Cir. 1980). The Supreme Court has stated that `we will find waiver only where stated' by the most express language or by such overwhelming implications from the text as leave no room of any other reasonable construction." Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U.S. 651 (1974). In this case, Hatton has conceded that Section 80 of the WMATA Compact, the provision setting forth WMATA's limited waiver of its sovereign immunity, "is silent on the matter of attorneys' fees." EAJA only waives the immunity of the United States, and not that of any state or state instrumentality like WMATA. Hatton has produced no other evidence of an express waiver of WMATA's sovereign immunity. In the absence of an express waiver, this Court lacks jurisdiction to adjudicate this motion on the merits.
For these reasons, defendant's motion for attorneys' fees and costs is denied. A separate order to that effect is being entered herewith.