In re Leno

2 Am. Tribal Law 89
CourtGrand Ronde Tribal Court
DecidedMay 12, 2000
DocketNo. C-99-10-001
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 2 Am. Tribal Law 89 (In re Leno) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Grand Ronde Tribal Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Leno, 2 Am. Tribal Law 89 (grrondect 2000).

Opinion

[91]*91ORDER AFFIRMING TRIBAL COUNCIL’S FINDINGS AND OPINION

KATHARINE ENGLISH, Chief Judge.

This matter came before the Court on Reyn Leno’s Notice of Appeal to the Trib[92]*92al Court from an Order of the Tribal Council.

ISSUE PRESENTED:

In the underlying proceeding held before the Tribal Council, the Council determined that its Vice-Chairman, Reyn Leno, had violated Tribal Ethical Standards Ordinance § 275(c)(l)(B)(9) by using his “position to ‘coerce, threaten or intimidate a person or group to provide financial benefit or other personal gain to [himjself or another person with whom [he] has family, business or financial ties, or any other purpose^]’ ” (Findings and Opinion 5). Specifically, the Council found that Vice-Chairman Leno “used his position on Tribal Council to intimidate, coerce and threaten the current and former Finance Officers into making decisions favorable to his wife.” (Findings and Opinion 5). As a sanction, the Council suspended Vice-Chairman Leno from the Council for two months without pay. Vice-Chairman Leno appeals to this Court, contending that certain of the Council’s findings are arbitrary and capricious, that he was deprived of due process and that, in any event, this Court has discretionary authority to vacate the findings and opinion of the Council and that the Court should do so here.

For the reasons that follow, the Court rejects each of those contentions.

BACKGROUND:

The proceeding before the Council began on June 9, 1999, when Tribal Member Valorie Sheker filed a complaint against Vice-Chairman Leno. Her complaint alleged that he had used his position as a Council Member to influence, harass, and threaten various Tribal employees intending to gain favorable treatment for members of his family who are also employed by the Tribe.

On June 22, 1999, the Council sought a more specific statement of the allegations from Ms. Sheker, along with a witness list. She provided those on July 10th. The additional information was sent to Vice-Chairman Leno on July 12th. His response to the allegations originally was due on July 27th but, at his request, he was given until August 10th to answer. Prior to that date, on July 29th, the Council again, at Vice-Chairman Leno’s request, asked Ms. Sheker to clarify some portions of her complaint. She did so by August 4th. Vice-Chairman Leno’s response was received on August 10th.

On August 11, 2000, the Tribal Council advised the parties that the hearing on this matter would be held on August 18th. The day before the scheduled hearing date, Vice-Chairman Leno asked the Council for a 30-day continuance because his attorney was not available on the scheduled date. The Council denied his request.

At the hearing held on August 18, 1999, Vice-Chairman Leno again requested a continuance, but stated he would proceed without his attorney if necessary. The Council voted to proceed with the hearing. Vice-Chairman Leno cross-examined the complainant’s witnesses, called his own witnesses, presented exhibits, and made his own statements and arguments.

After the hearing, the Council requested that some written testimony be submitted. The parties were given time to respond to that information, but neither did. On September 14, 1999, the Tribal Council issued its Findings and Opinion, concluding that Vice-Chairman Leno had used his position as a Council member to “threaten, coerce and intimidate” Tribal employees into giving preferential treatment to his wife. Vice-Chairman Leno then appealed to this Court.

Tribal Council’s Findings of Fact. At 275(c)(2)(J)(l) the Ordinance states that “The evidentiary findings of the Council shall be accepted by the Court as final, [93]*93unless such findings are arbitrary and capricious.” Although Vice-Chairman Leno questions the evidentiary sufficiency of some of the Council’s factual findings—an issue the Court discusses below—the Court nevertheless bases its statement of the facts on the facts as found by the Council. The Council’s factual findings provide a background that helps to explain the issues raised on judicial review and the findings also provide insight into the Council’s reasoning and its ultimate conclusion that Vice-Chairman Leno violated the Ethics Ordinance.

The Council found that “[a]t least three different witnesses testified to Vice-Chairman Leno’s intervention in employee matters during the past two years.” (Findings and Opinion 3). Those three witnesses were Mr. Randy Dugger, the Casino’s Food and Beverage Manager, Ms. Pat Mercier, the Tribe’s former Finance Officer, and Mr. Bob Saunders, the current Finance Officer. According to Mr. Dugger, Mr. Leno met with him to discuss scheduling issues shortly after Mr. Dugger had told Mr. Leno’s son, Dustin, that he would have to wait for a shift change that Dustin had requested. After the meeting with Vice-Chairman Leno, Mr. Dugger felt that “it would be in [his] best interest to expedite [Dustin’s] schedule change as quickly as possible.” Ultimately, because of some uncertainty as to whether the meeting between Mr. Dugger and Vice-Chairman Leno had taken place too long ago for the Council to consider it, the Council did not rely on Mr. Dugger’s testimony in reaching its conclusion or in imposing a sanction on Vice-Chairman Leno.

The next witness mentioned in the Council’s findings is Ms. Pat Mercier, the former Finance Officer. Ms. Mercier testified that Vice-Chairman Leno “repeatedly” questioned the choice of who would run the Member Benefits Program and that, “after over a year of harassment by Mr. Leno about who was doing the program,” Mr. Leno’s wife was transferred in to assist in administering the program. Ms. Mercier also testified that Mr. Leno intervened in pay disputes and performance issues involving his wife by going directly to the Executive Officer who then would tell Ms. Mercier how to handle the issue. The final witness of the three, Mr. Bob Saunders, the current Finance Officer, testified that Vice-Chairman Leno had questioned him about giving Mr. Leno’s wife her own office. Mr. Saunders said that he was very disturbed when Mr. Leno “held up two papers and informed [Mr. Saunders] that the Finance Department already had two jobs approved but was ‘going to have a hard time getting anything else done.’ ” (Findings and Opinion 4). Mr. Saunders also testified that Vice-Chairman Leno had asked him about the qualifications for the Member Benefits Manager position and that, when told Ms. Valorie Sheker might qualify based on prior experience rather than education, as provided in the Tribe’s personnel policies, Mr. Leno responded that such policies could be changed. Based on its findings, the Council concluded that:

“Vice-Chairman Leno repeatedly interfered with employee matters related to the Member Benefits Program. We also find that Vice-Chairman Leno used his position on Tribal Council to intimidate, coerce and threaten the current and former Finance Officers into making decisions favorable to his wife. In particular, we find Vice-Chairman Leno’s statement to Bob Saunders regarding difficulty in ‘getting anything else done’ a threat and a deliberate attempt by Vice-Chairman Leno to get office space for his wife. Using one’s position to ‘coerce, threaten or intimidate a person or group to provide financial benefit or other personal gain to oneself or another person [94]*94with whom one has family, business or financial ties, or any other purpose,’ is an abuse of power and an actual or apparent impropriety as defined in the Ethics Ordinance.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2 Am. Tribal Law 89, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-leno-grrondect-2000.