Opinion ID: 1438862
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Arbitration of Contract Disputes

Text: The paving path did not run smooth. Disputes arose concerning C & W's performance and payment therefor. On August 31, 2005, the parties attempted to resolve their disputes through non-binding mediation by the Oglala Sioux Tribal Executive Committee. The attempts were unsuccessful. On January 17, 2006, C & W filed a claim with the American Arbitration Association (AAA) concerning all four contracts, seeking $6 million. The Tribe communicated to C & W its agreement to arbitrate, and although not required to do so, agreed to include the Base and Blotter project in the arbitration. The Tribe answered C & W's AAA claim, and particularly asserted its own counterclaims under the Base and Blotter contract. It sought damages of over $1.8 million for breach of that contract. The Tribe's answer did not assert sovereign immunity. The Tribe moved to dismiss certain claims on grounds of sovereign immunity, but not with respect to the Base and Blotter contract. In support of that motion, the Tribe filed a memorandum with the arbitrator, acceding to him consideration of the Base and Blotter contract. The memorandum stated, in part: In the Base and Blotter contract, the limited waiver of sovereign immunity extends only to the Oglala Sioux Tribal Court. The Tribe has not objected to the claimant's inclusion of the Base and Blotter claim in the Arbitration Demand, however, for the sake of expediency in resolving the dispute on its merits. (Oglala Sioux's Legal Mem. in Supp. of Motion to Dismiss Portion of Claim 3, May 11, 2006 ( see Complaint, Ex. K (06-CV-5063-KES)).) The Tribe fully participated in five months of arbitration  attending hearings, filing a position paper, and serving discovery requests. On June 23, 2006, the Tribe apparently changed course. It moved the arbitrator to dismiss the Base and Blotter claims from arbitration, claiming sovereign immunity. Rule R-8(a) of the Construction Industry Arbitration Rules of the AAA (AAA Rules), however, confers upon the arbitrator the power to decide issues of jurisdiction and arbitrability. AAA Rule R-8(c) further provides: A party must object to the jurisdiction of the arbitrator or to the arbitrability of a claim or counterclaim no later than the filing of the answering statement to the claim or counterclaim that gives rise to the objection. The arbitrator denied the motion, finding the Tribe's active participation in arbitrating the Base and Blotter contract waived its immunity. On August 21, 2006, the Tribe filed its initial action in the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota. It sought to enjoin the arbitrator from hearing, among other things, claims related to the Base and Blotter contract. Oglala Sioux Tribe v. C & W Enterprises, Inc., No. 06-5063, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 61113, at  (D.S.D. Aug. 28, 2006). The district court dismissed that case for lack of federal jurisdiction, and this Court affirmed. Oglala Sioux Tribe v. C & W Enterprises, Inc., 487 F.3d 1129, 1130 (8th Cir.2007). Following dismissal of the initial action, the arbitrator commenced a two-week arbitration in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on August 30, 2006. The record does not disclose either party's objection to that location. On January 29, 2007, the arbitrator entered a final award of $1,250,552.58 in favor of C & W. Following this award, each party filed separate actions: C & W seeking to enforce the award; the Tribe seeking to contest it.