Lubrano v. Brennan Beer Gorman Architects, LLP

7 Am. Tribal Law 369
CourtMohegan Gaming Disputes Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 2, 2008
DocketNo. GDCA-T-07-501
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 7 Am. Tribal Law 369 (Lubrano v. Brennan Beer Gorman Architects, LLP) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mohegan Gaming Disputes Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lubrano v. Brennan Beer Gorman Architects, LLP, 7 Am. Tribal Law 369 (Mo. 2008).

Opinion

GUERNSEY, Chief Justice.

The Plaintiffs have appealed the decision of the Gaming Disputes Trial Court, Wilson, J., granting the Motion to Dismiss filed by the Defendant Lehr Associates Consulting Engineers, LLP 1 on grounds that the instant action was not timely filed under Mohegan Torts Code,2 and that the Gaming Disputes Court is therefore without jurisdiction pursuant to the Tort Code’s statute of limitations, MTC § 3-246. Because we hold that the Mohegan Torts Code has no applicability to tort [371]*371claims against non-Tribal entities, we reverse and remand for further proceedings.

Procedural History

By complaint filed with the Gaming Disputes Trial Court on March 9, 2005, the Plaintiffs commenced suit against six non-Tribal Defendants, seeking damages for catastrophic injuries suffered by the Plaintiff Joseph Lubrano, an employee of the “Mohegan Sun”,3 on June 15, 2004 as the result of a fall in the “Race Book” section of Mohegan Sun Casino during the course of his employment. Neither the Mohegan Tribe nor the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority (MTGA) is named as a Defendant, and the only involvement of any Tribal entity in this case is that of the MTGA as an intervening Plaintiff seeking to recover worker’s compensation benefits paid to or on behalf of Mr. Lubrano.

The original complaint, although not specifying the law to be applied, contained the perplexing allegation that “[pjursuant to Section 3 of the Mohegan Torts Code, Ordinance 2001-07, the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority has jurisdiction over this action.”4 The ad damnum claimed “[f]air, just and reasonable damages”, and the Statement of Claim asserted that “[t]he plaintiffs claim damages to the maximum extent allowed pursuant to the Mohegan Tort Code or other applicable tort law.”5 The involvement of the Mohegan Torts Code, which had never before been held to apply to tort claims against non-Tribal entities, took on a life of its own commencing with a Motion for Summary Judgment filed by the Defendants The Tucker Company, Tucker Mechanical, and Emcor Group, Inc. (collectively hereinafter “Tucker Mechanical”) asserting that Mohegan Tribal Law was silent on the issue of a statute of repose, and therefore the action was time-barred under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-584.6 The motion asserted that it was undisputed that Tucker Mechanical substantially completed its work on the Race Book section in September, 1998, and that there is no allegation that Tucker Mechanical served as architect, professional engineer, or land surveyor, thus avoiding the seven year statute of limitations set forth in Conn. Gen.Stat. § 52-584a. In response, the Plaintiffs asserted that MTO 95-4 “demands” the application of MTO 2001-07 (and its statute of limitations, under which a cause of action accrues when the injury is sustained) when the Connecticut General Statutes are in conflict with Mohegan Tribal Law,7 thus begging the question of whether any such conflict exists, given that MTO 2001-07 had never before been held to have any applicability to tort claims against non-Tribal entities.

[372]*372In its decision denying Tucker Mechanical’s Motion for Summary Judgment, the Gaming Disputes Trial Court, noting that the case was brought under the Mohegan Torts Code, assumed the applicability of the Torts Code for purposes of Tucker Mechanical’s motion,8 and went on to hold that the applicable law to be applied by the Gaming Disputes Court pursuant to MTO 95-4 was not the Connecticut statute of limitations, Conn. Gen.Stat. § 52-584, but rather the time limitations imposed under the Mohegan Torts Code, MTC § 3-246(a). In the context of this case, the difference was significant: whereas Conn. Gen.Stat. § 52-584, contains a statute of repose, MTC § 3-246(a) does not.9 Accordingly, the Motion for Summary Judgment was denied and Tucker Mechanical appealed.10

In view of the seriousness of the issues presented, both to the numerous parties to the instant case and to the development of Mohegan Law, pursuant to Rule 1(b) of the Gaming Disputes Court Rules of Appellate Procedure and Section 60-05 of the Connecticut Rules of Appellate Procedure, on June 27, 2007 this Court ordered that the matter be remanded to the Trial Court for articulation as to “[w]hether the Mohegan Torts Code has any applicability to tort claims brought against non-Tribal entities.” In reaffirming its holding that the Mohegan Torts Code was applicable to the instant action against non-Tribal entities, the Gaming Disputes Trial Court first looked to the Mohegan Torts Code definition of “Mohegan Tribal Entity”, finding no allegation that any of the Defendants were within this definition. The Trial Court next determined that the Gaming Disputes Court had jurisdiction over the non-Tribal entities pursuant to the Ordinance Establishing the Gaming Disputes Court, MTO 95-4, now MTC § 3-21 et sec/., succinctly and accurately analyzing the issue under Article XIII of the Constitution of the Mohegan Tribe of Indians.

The Trial Court then examined the provisions of MTC § 3-52, Sources of Tribal Law, emphasizing that Mohegan Tribal Ordinances are “primary”. Turning to the Mohegan Torts Code, the Court observed that the purpose of the Code is set forth as follows:

Sec. 3-244. Purpose.
The Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut, a federally-recognized sovereign Indian tribal nation occupying the Mohegan Reservation on land held in trust by the Unites States in Uncasville, Connecticut, intends this Code to govern the adjudication of torts from actions of The Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut and from actions of the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, and their subordinate entities and their respective authorized officials, agents, employees and representatives while engaged with[373]*373in the scope of their authority or employment on behalf of such entities, wherever located, (emphasis added)11

In the view of the Trial Court, because this statement of purpose does not exclude application of the Torts Code to entities nowhere mentioned in the statement of purpose 12, and for other reasons hereinafter discussed in detail, including the Trial Court’s respect for the direction to the Gaming Disputes Court to develop the Tribe’s common law “to achieve stability, clarity, equity, commercial reasonableness, and fidelity to any applicable Mohegan Tribal ordinances or regulations,” MTC § 3-54, the Trial Court held that the provisions of the Mohegan Torts Code govern tort actions against non-Tribal entities.

The Instant Appeal

The jurisdiction of the Gaming Disputes Court over the non-Tribal parties to this action (except to the extent that subject matter jurisdiction may be impacted by the statute of limitations in the Torts Code) has not been questioned.

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Bluebook (online)
7 Am. Tribal Law 369, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lubrano-v-brennan-beer-gorman-architects-llp-mohegangctapp-2008.