L.H. v. Tulalip Tribes

13 Am. Tribal Law 339
CourtTulalip Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 25, 2015
DocketNo. TUL-CV-AP-2014-0372
StatusPublished

This text of 13 Am. Tribal Law 339 (L.H. v. Tulalip Tribes) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Tulalip Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
L.H. v. Tulalip Tribes, 13 Am. Tribal Law 339 (tulalipctapp 2015).

Opinion

OPINION

KILMER, J.:

Summary of Proceedings

This matter is before the Tulalip Tribal Court of Appeals pursuant to a Notice of Appeal filed September 15, 2014 by the Tulalip Tribes contending that the Tulalip Employment Court made mistakes of law and procedure affecting the Court’s decision when it issued a pair of orders on July 15 and September 5, 2014.

This is an employment appeal case brought by L.H. after she had received a Notice of Demotion on June 14, 2014. Pursuant to former Chapter 9.10 of Title 9, an employee could appeal a disciplinary demotion in the Employment Court, but not a performance-based demotion. The Tribes contended that the demotion was for unsatisfactory performance, and thus could not be appealed to the Employment Court, while L.H. argued it was disciplinary in nature and thus could be heard by the Court.

The Employment Court eventually issued a pair of orders: one denying the Tribes’ motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction, ruling that the Notice of Demotion itself presented sufficient factual support that the demotion was disciplinary in nature; the other order granted L.H.’s motion for production of her complete personnel file. The Tribes appealed both orders.

The sole issue on appeal was whether the Employment Court had jurisdiction to review L.H.’s demotion. However, after this Court of Appeals accepted review, but before oral argument was held, the Tulalip Tribes adopted Resolution No. 2014-378, which repealed Chapter 9.10 in its entirety as of November 1, 2014, adopted a new Government Employee Handbook, and abolished the Employment Court. Later, on January 10, 2015, Resolution 2015-012 was adopted. That Resolution temporarily reinstated Chapter 9.10 for the explicitly limited purpose of allowing two ongoing employment appeal cases to continue in the Employment Court before that Court was to be finally abolished. (This case was not one of those two.)

After oral argument had been conducted, and because of the recent adoption of Resolution 2014-378, this Court issued an order on March 23, 2015 requesting that the parties provide supplemental briefing on the issues of whether Resolution No. 2014-378 deprived L.H. of any right of review that she may have had at the inception of her action; and, if the answer was “no,” did the abolition of the Employment Court render her appeal moot, or may that appeal now be heard pursuant to the Handbook’s new administrative review [341]*341process? Supplemental briefing was filed by the parties in late April.

Standard of Review

Section 2.20.090 of the Tulalip Tribal Code (TTC) provides the standard this Court of Appeals is to use when reviewing a decision of the Tribal Court:

(1) A finding of fact by a Judge shall be sustained unless clearly erroneous;
(2) A factual inference drawn by a Judge or jury shall be reviewed as a finding of fact if more than one reasonable inference can be drawn from the fact;
(3) Any finding by the Judge, whether explicit or implicit, of witness credibility shall be reviewed as a finding of fact;
(4) A conclusion of law shall be reviewed de novo, or without deference to the Tribal Court’s determination;
(5) Construction of an unambiguous contract term is reviewed as a conclusion of law;
(6) A matter which is a mixture of law and fact is reviewed by the standard applicable to each element;
(7) A sentence and the imposition of fine, forfeiture, or other penalty, excluding the assessment of damages, shall be reviewed as a discretionary determination of the Tribal Court;
(8) A matter which is within the discretion of the Tribal Court shall be sustained if it is reflected in the record that the Tribal Court exercised its discretionary authority, applied the appropriate legal standard to the facts, and did not abuse its discretion. A matter committed to the discretion of the Tribal Court shall not be subject to the substituted judgment of the Court of Appeals.

Former TTC 9.10.950(12) provided, with respect to appeals from the Employment Court:

Appellate Court. Any party to an Employment Court proceeding may have an appeal on the record to the Tulalip Court of Appeals of any final decision of the Employment Court. The appeal shall be taken by filing a written Notice of Appeal with the Clerk of the Tribal Court within 10 calendar days from the date of final decision of the Employment Court except that on a motion by any party the Court of Appeals may stay a trial if the issue in the appeal is the jurisdiction of the Employment Court. The Notice of Appeal shall be served on all other parties by the party filing the Notice of Appeal. The filing of an appeal under this section shall not stay the decision of the Employment Court. The jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals in appeals of Employment Court final decisions shall be to reverse the Employment Court and direct a new trial where the decision of the Employment Court is found to be arbitrary, capricious, or unsupported by substantial evidence; or, where the issue to be considered on appeal is the jurisdiction of the Employment Court, a trial if the Employment Court on appeal is found to have jurisdiction.

Decisions of the Employment Court are to be affirmed unless the decision is “arbitrary, capricious, or unsupported by substantial evidence.” TTC 9.10.950(12). “If we find error in the factual findings, we will reverse and remand for a new trial, but if we find only legal error and no factual issues remain, we may vacate the decision of the Employment Court.” C.S. v. Tulalip Tribes Housing Dept., 9 Am. Tribal Law 407, 10 NICS App. 6, 7 (Tulalip Tribal Ct.App.2011), citing Tribal Gaming Agency v. Half Moon and Stamp, 7 NICS App. 143, 14S (Tulalip Tribal Ct. App, 2006); Tribal Gaming Agency v. Murray, 5 NICS App. 90, 91-92 (Tulalip Tribal [342]*342Ct.App.1998). “[Tjhis Court has long-considered a ruling based on an error of law to be ‘arbitrary’ for purposes of Employment Court appeals.” J.M. v. The Tulalip Tribes, 11 Am. Tribal Law 458, 12 NICS App. 52, 53 (Tulalip Tribal Ct.App.2014).

TTC 2.20.100 provides, in relevant part: “The Court of Appeals may affirm the Trial Court decision, modify the Trial Court decision in whole or in part, reverse the Trial Court decision in whole or in part, order a new trial, or make any other ruling which disposes of the issues raised by the appeal.”

Discussion

As stated earlier, this is a case that was filed in the Tulalip Tribal Court, Employment Court division, against the Tulal-ip Tribes, by L.H., appealing her employment demotion.

The Tulalip Tribes, as a sovereign nation, enjoys immunity from suit. Madison v. Tulalip, — Am. Tribal Law —, 6 NICS App. 212, 213 (Tulalip Tribal Ct.App.2004), citing, among other cases, Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez, 436 U.S. 49, 58-59, 98 S.Ct. 1670, 56 L.Ed.2d 106 (1978). The Tulalip Tribes, however, may waive its immunity from suit, but any such waiver must be explicit and cannot be implied. Id.

TTC 2.05.020(3) sets out the Tulalip Tribes’ general immunity from suit:

Tribal Immunity.

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Related

Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez
436 U.S. 49 (Supreme Court, 1978)
J.M. v. Tulalip Tribes
11 Am. Tribal Law 458 (Tulalip Court of Appeals, 2014)
C.S. v. Tulalip Tribes Housing Department
9 Am. Tribal Law 407 (Tulalip Court of Appeals, 2011)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
13 Am. Tribal Law 339, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lh-v-tulalip-tribes-tulalipctapp-2015.