Third party complaint not a waiver of immunity.
In Aholelei v. Public Safety the Ninth Circuit held that filing of a third-party complaint, without more, cannot constitute a waiver of immunity. The plaintiff was an inmate of a prison who suffered injuries from being beaten by other inmates. He sued state employee defendants. The defendants raised the issue of immunity pursuant to the 11th amendment, and also filed a separate third party complaint against the inmates who committed the beating. The Court rejected the claim that filing the third party complaint was a voluntary invocation of federal jurisdiction, noting that the third party complaint was an appropriate defense strategy not inconsistent with the immunity claim.
