Cite as: 528 U. S. 62 (2000)
Opinion of the Court
mandatory age limits for law enforcement officers and firefighters—at federal, state, and local levels—are exempted from the statute's coverage. 5 U. S. C. §§ 3307(d), (e); 29 U. S. C. § 623( j) (1994 ed., Supp. III).
B
In December 1994, Roderick MacPherson and Marvin Narz, ages 57 and 58 at the time, filed suit under the ADEA against their employer, the University of Montevallo, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. In their complaint, they alleged that the university had discriminated against them on the basis of their age, that it had retaliated against them for filing discrimination charges with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and that its College of Business, at which they were associate professors, employed an evaluation system that had a disparate impact on older faculty members. MacPherson and Narz sought declaratory and injunctive relief, backpay, promotions to full professor, and compensatory and punitive damages. App. 21-25. The University of Montevallo moved to dismiss the suit for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, contending it was barred by the Eleventh Amendment. No party disputes the District Court's holding that the university is an instrumentality of the State of Alabama. On September 9, 1996, the District Court granted the university's motion. MacPherson v. University of Montevallo, Civ. Action No. 94-AR-2962-S (ND Ala., Sept. 9, 1996), App. to Pet. for Cert. in No. 98-796, pp. 63a-71a. The court determined that, although the ADEA contains a clear statement of Congress' intent to abrogate the States' Eleventh Amendment immunity, Congress did not enact or extend the ADEA under its Fourteenth Amendment § 5 enforcement power. Id., at 67a, 69a-70a. The District Court therefore held that the ADEA did not abrogate the States' Eleventh Amendment immunity. Id., at 71a.
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