Gudac v. Marianito

1 Navajo Rptr. 385
CourtNavajo Nation Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 28, 1978
StatusPublished

This text of 1 Navajo Rptr. 385 (Gudac v. Marianito) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Navajo Nation Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gudac v. Marianito, 1 Navajo Rptr. 385 (navajo 1978).

Opinion

JOHN, Acting Chief Justice:

I.

On January 18, 1977, Chief Justice Virgil L. Kirk, Sr., agreed to employ the Plaintiff in the capacity of Judicial Branch Fiscal Officer, effective January 24, 1977. By memorandum, the Chief Justice requested that the Defendant Frankie Marianito process all the necessary papers. The appropriate personnel action form was prepared by the Judicial Branch and signed by the Chief Justice and it bore the notation "90 Days Probationary Period" in the remarks section.

On April 12, 1977, the Defendant Frankie Marianito wrote [386]*386the Chief Justice that the Plaintiff's employment would be terminated on April 22, 1977, because she was hired temporarily. His letter referred to a memorandum from Thomas H. Brose, Director of the Divison of Equal Employment Opportunity, to Mari an ¡to stating that the Plaintiff's employment was temporary, that Indian preference would have to be observed and that the nepotism provisions of the Executive Branch's personnel policies were being violated by Mrs. Gudac's employment at the Judicial Branch.

Apparently, Brose based his opinion that the Plaintiff's employment was temporary on a personnel action form which stated that to be the case. However, the form Brose saw did not bear the signature of the Chief Justice as did the form originally submitted by him. Therefore, this form, with its changed notation, must have been substituted by someone outside of the Judicial Branch at some time subsequent to the plaintiff's employment.

On April 13, 1977, Chief Justice Kirk wrote Marianito that the Plaintiff's employment was not temporary and that the personnel policies of the Executive Branch did not apply to the Judicial Branch. Therefore, he stated, Mrs. Gudac was not to be terminated by any action of the Personnel Office.

When it appeared that the Defendants would proceed to terminate the Plaintiff without the consent of the Judicial Branch, Mrs. Gudac, on April 15, 1977, filed an Application for a Temporary Restraining Order and Permanent Injunction to prevent her termination [387]*387by Executive Branch officers.

On that same day, the Window Rock District Court issued the requested order, preventing the Plaintiff's termination. On April 21, 1977, after a full hearing, the Window Rock District Court issued a Permanent Injunction preventing any and all of the Defendants from acting individually or in concert to terminate the Plaintiff. The Court found that the Plaintiff would suffer irreparable harm if the injunction were not issued. The Court further found that the personnel policies and procedures of the Executive Branch did not apply to the Judicial Branch and the Court enjoined the Defendants and their successors from ever applying them to Judicial Branch personnel.

On May 20, 1977, the Defendants filed a Motion to Correct Error and to Dissolve the Injunction. This motion was denied on June 8, 1977.

On May 23, 1977, the Defendants filed this appeal and oral argument was heard on November 14, 1977.

II.

The issues f re.se ted by this appeal can be summarized as follows:

1. Do the personnel policies and procedures which Mr. Mar ¡an ¡to sought to enforce as to Mrs. Gudac apply to the Navajo Judiciary?
2. Was injunctive relief appropriate and was the scope of the injunction proper?
[388]*3883. Were Rules 6 and 7 of the rules of Court properly interpreted by the District Court?
4. Who does have the authority to control personnel matters of the Judicial Branch of the Navajo tribal government?

III.

The District Court was absolutely correct in ruling that the personnel policies and procedures of the Executive Branch do not apply to the Judiciary. These policies are often referred to as "tribal" policies. They are not.

Resolution CAU-50-59, passed August 6, 1959, delegated to the Advisory Committee of the Navajo Tribal Council the authority to approve personnel policies for the Executive Branch of the Navajo tribal government. The legislative history behind this act and terms of the act itself make it perfectly clear that this authority was intended to extend only to the Executive Branch, headed by the Chairman of the Council, and that the phrase "Executive Branch" was purposefully used to distinguish it from the Judicial Branch, which was then in existence and was then specifically referred to by the Council and the Code it had recently enacted in those terms: Judicial Branch.

On December 18, 1959, the Advisory Committee adopted a resolution, ACD-173-59, approving personnel policies for the Executive Branch. ACD-173-59 made clear and specific reference to the authority delegated to the Committee by CAU-50-59.

At no time did any Council or Committee member suggest [389]*389that the policies then being adopted (which are substantially the same ones defendants attempted to enforce as to the Judiciary) would ever apply to the Judicial Branch of the Navajo Nation.

The fact is that no one in the Executive Branch attempted to apply these policies to the Judiciary until 1974, when Mr. Marianito's predecessor attempted to bring the Judges of the Courts of the Navajo Nation within a new administrative ruling concerning carry-over of leave. At this time, the Chief Justice and the General Counsel to the Judicial Branch informed the Executive Branch and its Legal Department that such efforts were in violation of the law. At first, the Legal Department agreed and issued an advisory opinion, dated May 8, 1974, to this effect. As a result of political pressure from within the Executive Branch, this opinion was subsequently withdrawn in September of that same year. The second opinion erroneously interpreted both CAU-50-59 and ACD-173-59 and was apparently based on a misquote of ACD-173-59 as well as a deliberate misrepresentation of CAU-50-59.

This dispute did not end but in fact found expression in letters sent by Mr. Marianito to certain judges in November of 1976. The termination of Mrs. Gudac was but a continuation of a long-standing argument between the Judiciary and the Executive Branch of the Navajo government.

We note with interest that the policies of the Executive Branch do not actually give the Director of Personnel the right to [390]*390terminate Executive Branch personnel, let alone Judicial personnel. In addition, these policies define “nepotism", which was one of the bases of the illegal firing, only in terms of employment within the same office or division. Numerous Executive Branch personnel married to each other work within the same office and division, not to mention the fact that many more couples work in different offices and divisions of that branch.

Apparently, the Executive Branch refuses to recognize the fact that the Judicial Branch of the Navajo Nation is itself composed of various offices and districts. Given this fact, the plaintiff's employment would not have been in violation of these policies even if they had applied. We realize that counsel for Appellants has placed heavy reliance on the manner in which the Fiscal Year 1977 budget described the organization of the Judiciary, but this is a matter over which the Judiciary seems to have no control since one of the defendants is the person who sees to the printing of the budget.

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1 Navajo Rptr. 385, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gudac-v-marianito-navajo-1978.