Arkansas Highway Police, a Division of the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department v. Raunona Mays

── Arkansas Highway Police, a Division of the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department v. Raunona Mays ── Court: Supreme Court of Arkansas Date: April 09, 2026 Category: General Cite as 2026 Ark. 57 SUPREME COURT OF ARKANSAS No. CV-25-396 Opinion Delivered April 9, 2026 ARKANSAS HIGHWAY POLICE, A DIVISION OF THE ARKANSAS APPEAL FROM THE PULASKI STATE HIGHWAY AND COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT [NO. 60CV-24-1957] APPELLANT HONORABLE CARA CONNERS, JUDGE V. AFFIRMED IN PART; REVERSED AND REMANDED IN PART. RAUNONA MAYS APPELLEE RHONDA K. WOOD, Associate Justice Officer Raunona Mays filed a complaint against her employer, the Arkansas Highway Police (AHP),1 alleging that she was denied four promotions because of her race and gender in violation of section 1983, section 1981, Title VII, and the Arkansas Civil Rights Act (ACRA). AHP moved to dismiss based on sovereign immunity and the circuit court denied it. AHP appeals and we reverse and remand Mays’s section 1983, section 1981, and ACRA claims because those claims must be brought against a person, not an agency, and thus do not survive sovereign immunity. Because Mays pleaded sufficient facts in support of her Title VII claim to survive the sovereign-immunity challenge, we affirm as to it. 1 The Arkansas Highway Police is a division within the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department.  I. Facts Raunona Mays is an African American woman who has been employed with AHP since 2004. She holds the position of Sergeant and has applied for and been denied four positions between 2022 and 2023. Mays contends that AHP filled all four positions with either Caucasian males or inferior candidates. Mays alleges she was fully qualified and met the requirements for each position. Below summarizes the facts Mays alleges to support her discrimination and retaliation claims. First, Mays applied for but did not receive a promotion to First Lieutenant. Instead, Doug Lafferty, a Caucasian male, was promoted, even though he had six years’ less seniority than Mays and a bachelor’s degree in art history (Mays has a degree in criminal justice). Moreover, Lafferty had been sanctioned for failing to document verbal discipline he had given to another officer. Mays filed a grievance with AHP naming Nancy Harmon and Captain Pete Lopez, members of the promotion-decision panel. She did not receive relief from her grievance. Next, Mays applied for a promotion to Second Lieutenant. Sergeant Chad Heath received the promotion. Heath is a Caucasian male who had no more time in service and no higher academic degree than Mays. Then, Mays applied for a promotion to the Patrol Lieutenant position. Again, now Lieutenant Heath received this promotion. Finally, Mays applied for a Station Lieutenant position. This time, Sergeant Winfrey, who had less service time and education than Mays, received the promotion. Harmon and Lopez were on each promotion-decision panel. 2  Failing to receive these four promotions, Mays filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) complaint. Mays alleged race and sex discrimination. She claims AHP retaliated after she filed her first grievance. The EEOC dismissed the charge and gave Mays a right to sue. Thus, Mays sued AHP for race discrimination, sex discrimination, and retaliation in violation of Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 1981, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and the Arkansas Civil Rights Act. Mays seeks money damages, a Lieutenant position, and an injunction against future employment discrimination. AHP moved to dismiss on sovereign-immunity grounds. The circuit court denied the motion to dismiss, and AHP filed this interlocutory a