Cite as: 519 U. S. 425 (1997)
Opinion of the Court
University wrongfully refused to perform its agreement with Doe because it determined that he could not obtain the required security clearance from the Department of Energy (Department). Relying on Ninth Circuit cases holding that the University is "an arm of the state," 1 the District Court concluded that the Eleventh Amendment barred respondent from maintaining his breach-of-contract action in federal court.
The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed. Assuming that in some, but not all, of its functions the University is entitled to Eleventh Amendment immunity,2 the court addressed the narrow question whether it is an arm of the State when "acting in a managerial capacity" for the Livermore Laboratory. Doe v. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 65 F. 3d 771, 774 (1995). Although the majority applied "a five-factor analysis," 3 it emphasized that "liability
1 See App. to Pet. for Cert. A-22, A-24, and A-28 (citing Thompson v. City of Los Angeles, 885 F. 2d 1439, 1442-1443 (1989), and Jackson v. Hayakawa, 682 F. 2d 1344, 1350 (1982)).
2 The court relied on one case holding that Congress had abrogated the University's immunity from suit for patent infringement, Genentech, Inc. v. Eli Lilly & Co., 998 F. 2d 931, 940-941 (CA Fed. 1993), cert. denied, 510 U. S. 1140 (1994), and another holding that the University had waived its immunity in some cases, In re Holoholo, 512 F. Supp. 889, 901-902 (Haw. 1981), for its conclusion that the "University is an enormous entity which functions in various capacities and which is not entitled to Eleventh Amendment immunity for all of its functions." Doe v. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 65 F. 3d 771, 775 (1995). We have no occasion to consider questions of waiver or abrogation of immunity in this case. Nor is it necessary to decide whether there may be some state instrumentalities that qualify as "arms of the State" for some purposes but not others.
3 The five factors considered by the court in evaluating whether the University is an arm of the State were: "[1] whether a money judgment would be satisfied out of state funds, [2] whether the entity performs central governmental functions, [3] whether the entity may sue or be sued, [4] whether the entity has power to take property in its own name or only the name of the state, and [5] the corporate status of the entity." Id., at 774.
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