Are All Roads Tolled? State Sovereign Immunity and the Federal Supplemental Jurisdiction Tolling Provision

Lance Raygor believed that his employer, the University of Minnesota, had discriminated against him because of his age. He sued the University, an arm of the state, in federal court under the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act' (ADEA) and the Minnesota Human Rights Act In its pleadings, the state asserted sovereign immunity from federal jurisdiction and the district court agreed, dismissing the plaintiff's claims under the Eleventh Amendment.' Raygor appealed, but withdrew his appeal for lack of a substantial federal question after the Supreme Court determined that the ADEA did not validly abrogate state sovereign immunity. Raygor refiled his state law claim in state court, where it was dismissed on the ground that the statute of limitations had expired.' Raygor appealed, alleging that the federal supplemental jurisdiction statute's tolling provision should have tolled the statute of limitations on his state law claim and thereby foreclosed the state's statute of limitations defense. The Min-