Toombs, Harold T. v. Manning, Sylvester, Brown, James, and Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority

OPINION OF THE COURT

GARTH, Senior Circuit Judge:

The primary issue we confront on this appeal is whether the defendant, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), is a Commonwealth party within the ambit of the sovereign immunity statute enacted by the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 1978. Both the plaintiff, Harold T. Toombs, and the defendants (SEPTA and two of its employees) appeal from a district court judgment of $284,-314.64 in favor of Toombs, 640 F.Supp. 938.

Toombs contends that the district court erred when, in accordance with the 1978 limited immunity statute,…