Opinion ID: 171426
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: SCTC's Immunity from Suit

Text: Indian tribes are domestic dependent nations with sovereignty over their members and territories. E.F.W. v. St. Stephen's Indian High Sch., 264 F.3d 1297, 1304 (10th Cir.2001). As sovereign powers, federally-recognized Indian tribes possess immunity from suit in federal court. Berrey v. Asarco Inc., 439 F.3d 636, 643 (10th Cir.2006); see also 25 C.F.R. § 83.2 (describing effect of federal recognition for tribes). Tribal immunity extends to subdivisions of a tribe, and even bars suits arising from a tribe's commercial activities. See Kiowa Tribe of Okla. v. Mfg. Techs., Inc., 523 U.S. 751, 759, 118 S.Ct. 1700, 140 L.Ed.2d 981 (1998) (Tribes enjoy immunity from suits on contracts, whether those contracts involve governmental or commercial activities and whether they were made on or off a reservation.); see also Allen v. Gold Country Casino, 464 F.3d 1044, 1047 (9th Cir.2006) (holding that a casino that function[ed] as an arm of the Tribe enjoyed tribal immunity), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 127 S.Ct. 1307, 167 L.Ed.2d 119 (2007); Ramey Constr. Co. v. Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation, 673 F.2d 315, 320 (10th Cir.1982) (holding that an inn which was a sub-entity of the Tribe rather than a separate corporate entity enjoyed tribal immunity). While the Supreme Court has expressed misgivings about recognizing tribal immunity in the commercial context, the Court has also held that the doctrine is settled law and that it is not the judiciary's place to restrict its application. Kiowa Tribe, 523 U.S. at 756-59, 118 S.Ct. 1700. To the extent the plaintiffs have argued that we should abrogate the scope of the doctrine in the present case due to SCTC's commercial activities, we decline this request. The Seneca-Cayuga Tribe's immunity from suit may only be overcome in one of two ways. First, Congress has the power to abrogate the tribe's immunity. Ute Distrib. Corp. v. Ute Indian Tribe, 149 F.3d 1260, 1263 (10th Cir.1998). Second, the tribe can waive its own immunity. St. Stephen's, 264 F.3d at 1304. In either event, a waiver of sovereign immunity cannot be implied but must be unequivocally expressed. Ute Distrib., 149 F.3d at 1263 (quoting Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez, 436 U.S. 49, 58, 98 S.Ct. 1670, 56 L.Ed.2d 106 (1978)). It is undisputed that Congress has not abrogated the immunity of either SCTC or the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe. It is also undisputed that the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe has unequivocally waived its own immunity via the sue or be sued clause in the Corporate Charterbut only with respect to the actions of the Tribal Corporation, and not the actions of the Tribe. [2] See id. at 1268 (holding that waiver in a sue and be sued clause is limited to actions involving the corporate activities of the tribe and does not extend to actions of the tribe in its capacity as a political governing body). On appeal, the primary issue in dispute is factual: whether SCTC is a division of the Tribal Corporation or of the Tribe. The plaintiffs also argue that even if SCTC is a division of the Tribe, it should be equitably estopped from asserting its immunity because its managers held it out to be a division of the Tribal Corporation in their dealings with NAD and Dilliner. Where, as here, subject-matter jurisdiction turns on a question of fact, we review the district court's factual findings for clear error and review its legal conclusions de novo. Southway v. Cent. Bank of Nigeria, 328 F.3d 1267, 1272 (10th Cir. 2003). Our review of the record reveals no clear error in the district court's factual finding that SCTC was a division of the Tribe rather than the Tribal Corporation. The primary evidence the district court relied upon was the Business Committee resolution that created SCTC. For several reasons, this resolution provides substantial support for the district court's finding that SCTC was a division of the Tribe. First, the resolution specifically invokes the Business Committee's powers to act in Behalf of the Tribe under Article VI of the Constitution and By-Laws. Resolution # XX-XXXXXX, ROA at 55. Article VI grants the Business Committee the power to transact business on behalf of the Tribe. Tribal Const. art. VI, ROA at 49. Under the Corporate Charter of the Tribal Corporation, the Business Committee also has broad power to act for the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe's economic benefit. See generally Corp. Charter § 3, ROA at 84-86 (outlining corporate powers). The Business Committee has previously invoked the powers of the Tribal Corporation to justify its actions. See Resolution # XX-XXXXXX, ROA at 248 (citing section 3(q) of the Corporate Charter as grounds for suspending voting rights of Tribal Councilperson). While the Business Committee could have invoked its powers under the Corporate Charter to justify the creation of a tobacco company, it instead invoked its constitutional powers to do so. This lends support to the conclusion that SCTC was created by the Tribe acting in its governmental, rather than corporate, capacity. Second, the resolution expressly declares that the tobacco company will function as an economic development project to provide employment opportunities and revenue for the Tribe, and states that the company and its activities are essential governmental functions of the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe. Resolution # XX-XXXXXX, ROA at 55-56. The district court interpreted this language as a declaration that SCTC would function as an operating division of the Tribe in its governmental capacity. Order, ROA at 386. We agree with the district court's interpretation. We see no reason for the Business Committee to use this language unless it intended to make clear that the tobacco company was a division of the Tribe, and the plaintiffs have offered no alternative explanation. Third, and finally, the resolution approved an agreement with Humble, Riggs & Associates (H & R) for the management of the tobacco company, and provided that the Business Committee waives the Tribal immunity from suit only to the limits set out in said management agreement and only to [H & R]. Resolution # XX-XXXXXX, ROA at 56. By including an express waiver of immunity in the resolution, one limited solely to suits brought by H & R, the Business Committee clearly expressed its belief that SCTC was a division of the Tribe that was entitled to its immunity from suit, and that in order for this immunity to be waived, it would need to affirmatively express an intention to do so. In addition to the Business Committee's resolution, the district court relied upon an affidavit by Paul Spicer, Chief of the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe and Project Developer for SCTC's creation. In his affidavit, Chief Spicer stated that SCTC was created as an operating division of the Tribe in its governmental capacity and that the Tribe has never waived its sovereign immunity for the Seneca-Cayuga Tobacco Company in any of its dealings with Native American Distributing or John Dilliner. Spicer Aff., ROA 46-47, ¶¶ 3, 7. The plaintiffs attempt to undermine Spicer's credibility, pointing out contradictory statements made by Spicer in an unsworn declaration that the Tribal Corporation has never had any operations whatsoever and has existed only on the paper issued to the tribe by the federal government. Spicer Unsworn Dec., ROA at 301, ¶¶ 5, 7. After review of this conflicting evidence, the district court relied upon statements in Spicer's sworn affidavit, it did not rely upon the statements in his unsworn declaration. In fact, the district court specifically assumed that Spicer's unsworn declaration was mistaken, and that the Tribal Corporation is an existing and active entity. Order, ROA at 387 n. 1. Even if we were to assume that the plaintiffs' evidence so damaged Spicer's credibility that his affidavit was also untrustworthy, [3] the plaintiffs presented no evidence to the district court that questions the validity or effect of the Business Committee's resolution. Similarly, though plaintiffs' counsel suggested at oral argument that SCTC may have been created by the Tribe yet operated by the Tribal Corporation, the plaintiffs presented no evidence supporting such a conclusion. The only evidence even remotely suggesting SCTC was created or operated as a division of the Tribal Corporation was the testimony of Plaintiff John Dilliner, who said that he believed that SCTC was subject to the terms of the Corporate Charter because he was told that it was. See Dilliner Aff. 1, ROA at 89-90; Dilliner Aff. 2, ROA at 244-46. However, Dilliner's subjective belief regarding SCTC's governing documents does not equate to an express waiver of immunity. Under these circumstances, we cannot conclude that the district court clearly erred in finding that SCTC was an enterprise of the Tribe, which has not waived its immunity. We must also reject the contention that SCTC should be equitably estopped from asserting its immunity because its managers told Dilliner that SCTC was a division of the Tribal Corporation. We agree with the district court that the misrepresentations of the Tribe's officials or employees cannot affect its immunity from suit. We have previously recognized that officers of the United States possess no power through their actions to waive an immunity of the United States or to confer jurisdiction on a court in the absence of an express waiver of immunity. United States v. Murdock Mach. & Eng'g Co. of Utah, 81 F.3d 922, 931 (10th Cir.1996) (quoting United States v. N.Y. Rayon Imp. Co., 329 U.S. 654, 660, 67 S.Ct. 601, 91 L.Ed. 577 (1947)) (quotations and alteration omitted). We see no reason to treat tribal immunity any differently than federal sovereign immunity in this context. See Merrion v. Jicarilla Apache Tribe, 455 U.S. 130, 148, 102 S.Ct. 894, 71 L.Ed.2d 21 (1982) (employing principles applicable to waiver of federal and state immunity to tribal immunity). The Supreme Court has acknowledged that tribes could use their immunity as a sword rather than a shield, as is alleged here, writing that immunity can harm those who are unaware that they are dealing with a tribe, who do not know of tribal immunity, or who have no choice in the matter, as in the case of tort victims. Kiowa Tribe, 523 U.S. at 758, 118 S.Ct. 1700. Despite these concerns with the assertion of immunity, the Court has held fast to its position that such concerns are not the province of the courts, but of Congress or of the tribe itself. Id. at 758-60, 118 S.Ct. 1700; see also Ute Distrib., 149 F.3d at 1267 (holding that there can be no waiver of tribal immunity based on policy concerns, perceived inequities arising from the assertion of immunity, or the unique context of a case); Pan Am. Co. v. Sycuan Band of Mission Indians, 884 F.2d 416, 419 (9th Cir.1989) (Indian sovereignty, like that of other sovereigns, is not a discretionary principle subject to the vagaries of the commercial bargaining process or the equities of a given situation.). This case does not present a materially different situation. Whether a tribal entity has affirmatively led or passively permitted another party to believe it is amenable to suit, in both cases the entity has concealed its immunity, to its benefit and the other's detriment. The plaintiffs argue that this case is distinguishable because they are not asking us to find a waiver where none is explicit, but to extend the reach of a preexisting waiver (the sue and be sued clause). This is a distinction without a difference. In either situation, the defendant has not clearly and unequivocally waived its immunity from the suit at hand. The plaintiffs point to no prior case, and we have found none, that has taken into account the specific facts before it and extended a waiver of immunity to a suit that was not already within the waiver's scope. We are not inclined to do so here. In sum, we conclude that the district court did not clearly err in determining that SCTC was an enterprise of the Tribe that has not waived its immunity. We also conclude that the district court correctly determined that SCTC was not equitably estopped from asserting its immunity due to the misrepresentations of its managers. The district court was correct to conclude that it did not have subject-matter jurisdiction over the plaintiffs' suit against SCTC.