Opinion ID: 726058
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Nature of MSG's Work

Text: 35 MSG takes its orders from the Tribal Council, which selects projects with the greatest benefit for the Tribe. How and from whom MSG receives its jobs, however, does not magisterially transform its operation into an exercise of sovereign power. When all is said and done, MSG is in the construction business; and its activities are of a commercial and service character, not a governmental character. See Reich v. Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Comm'n, 4 F.3d 490, 495 (7th Cir.1993). 36 In Reich v. Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, the Seventh Circuit drew a similar distinction. The court was asked to consider whether wildlife officers employed by a tribe were exempt from the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The court concluded that the wildlife officers were similar to police officers, and thus were exercising governmental power. Accordingly, the court held that the application of the FLSA would interfere with tribal self-governance. In so holding, however, the court was careful to distinguish the activities of the wildlife officers from workers on a tribal farm (Coeur d'Alene, 751 F.2d at 1113), lumber mill (United States Dep't of Labor v. Occupational Safety & Health Review Comm'n, 935 F.2d 182 (9th Cir.1991) (OSHRC )), or health care facility (Smart, 868 F.2d 929). Great Lakes, 4 F.3d at 495. 37 So too in OSHRC, the Ninth Circuit concluded that the activities of a tribal lumber mill, which took direction from a tribal council, did not touch exclusive rights of self-governance in purely intramural matters. OSHRC, 935 F.2d at 184. And in Smart, the Seventh Circuit determined that ERISA applied to a tribal health care facility despite the fact that the operation was owned and operated by the tribe. Smart, 868 F.2d at 935-36. 38 MSG excavates construction sites at the Tribe's behest for the benefit of tribal members. We think that such an operation is akin to the tribal mill in OSHRC, and has characteristics of a service-oriented endeavor like the tribal health care facility in Smart. That an entity is owned by a tribe, operates as an arm of a tribe, or takes direction from a tribal council, does not ipso facto elevate it to the status of a tribal government.