Navajo Nation v. Peabody Holding Co.

255 F.R.D. 37, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33014, 2009 WL 59063
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedJanuary 9, 2009
DocketCivil Action No. 99-469(EGS)
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 255 F.R.D. 37 (Navajo Nation v. Peabody Holding Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Navajo Nation v. Peabody Holding Co., 255 F.R.D. 37, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33014, 2009 WL 59063 (D.D.C. 2009).

Opinion

ORDER

EMMET G. SULLIVAN, District Judge.

On March 6, 2008, the Court referred this ease to Magistrate Judge Alan Kay for a Report and Recommendation. On March 20, 2008, Plaintiff filed a Motion for Protective [41]*41Order, and Defendants filed a Motion to Compel Production of Documents. The motions were fully briefed, and Magistrate Judge Kay issued a Report and Recommendation on June 13, 2008. The Court has considered Plaintiffs’ objections to the Report and Recommendation, the responses and replies thereto, the applicable law, and the entire record. Pursuant to Local Civil Rule 72.3(c), the Court accepts the findings and adopts the Recommendation of Magistrate Judge Kay contained in the June 13 Report. Accordingly, it is by the Court hereby

ORDERED that Plaintiffs Motion for Protective Order and Order Requiring the Returns of Navajo Nation’s Privileged Materials is DENIED; and it is

FURTHER ORDERED that Defendants’ Motion to Compel Production of Documents Withheld by the Navajo Nation with respect to (1) all documents that the Navajo Nation disclosed to the Hopi during the Possessory Interest Tax (“PIT”) litigation and (2) the 578 documents relating to the same subject matter as the documents that the Navajo Nation disclosed to the Hopi during the PIT litigation or to Defendants during the instant litigation is GRANTED; and it is

FURTHER ORDERED that Defendants’ Renewed Motion to Compel with respect to privileged documents that bear on the Navajo Nation’s claims of fraudulent concealment and justifiable reliance is DENIED; and it is

FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiffs and Defendant shall file a joint recommendation by February 9, 2009 for future proceedings; in the event that the parties are unable to agree on a joint proposal, the parties shall file separate proposals on the issues on which they cannot reach an agreement.

SO ORDERED.

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION1

ALAN KAY, United States Magistrate Judge.

Pending before the Court are Plaintiff Navajo Nation’s Motion for Protective Order and Order Requiring the Return of the Navajo Nation’s Privileged Materials and Incorporated Memorandum in Support [343], Defendants’ Opposition [348], and Plaintiffs Reply (filed under seal). Aso pending are Defendants’ Renewed Motion to Compel Production of Documents Withheld by the Navajo Nation (filed under seal), Plaintiffs Opposition (filed under seal), and Defendants’ Reply [351]. Ater considering the submissions of the parties and the argument presented at the hearing on May 15, 2008, the undersigned issues the following Report and Recommendation.

I. Background

A. The PIT Litigation

The current motions stem from lease negotiations conducted during the 1980s between the Navajo Nation (“the Navajo”), the Hopi Tribe (“the Hopi”), and Peabody Coal Company (“Peabody”) concerning the mining of coal deposits jointly owned by the Navajo and Hopi. Pursuant to a 1968 lease, Peabody operated two mines primarily on Navajo territory. Peabody Coal Co. v. Navajo Nation, 860 F.Supp. 683, 687 (D.Ariz.1994). Beginning in 1978, the Navajo levied a Possessory Interest Tax (“PIT”) and Business Activity Tax upon Peabody’s mining operations. Id. at 687-88. Following amendments to the coal leases in 1987, Peabody and its business associate Southern California Edison (“SCE”) challenged the Navajo’s authority to impose these taxes without the Hopi’s consent in the United States District Court for the District of Aizona. Id. at 688-89.

The Hopi intervened in the suit, seeking half of any revenue collected by the Navajo through the taxes or, in the alternative, a forbearance preventing the levying of the taxes. Id. at 689. The Navajo raised the affirmative defenses of waiver, estoppel, and laches. Id. at 690. Specifically, the Navajo contended that the Hopi relinquished their claim to any tax revenue when they failed to negotiate a tax-sharing arrangement under [42]*42the 1987 amendments to the leases. (Def.’s Opp’n at 3.) In an effort to rebut these affirmative defenses, the Hopi sought the disclosure of any document indicating that the Navajo knew or should have known about the Hopi’s potential claim to the tax revenue or the Navajo’s possible liability if the Navajo elected to abate or waive certain taxes owed by Peabody. (Hurst Decl., Ex. A-3 [348-5] at 1-2.) The Navajo objected to the document request, stating that it called for disclosure of privileged attorney-client material. (Dahlstrom Deck, Tab A [343-3] at 24.) The Hopi moved to compel, arguing that the information was discoverable under the doctrine of issue-injection waiver, maintaining that the Navajo voluntarily waived the privilege when they raised their affirmative defenses. (Hurst. Deck, Ex. A-l [348-3] at 7.) United States District Judge Strand agreed with the Hopi and ordered “all information that fairly bears on the affirmative defenses is to be disclosed.” (Order of Feb. 24, 1994, Hurst Deck, Ex. A-3 at 2.)

The Navajo did not appeal the court’s decision or withdraw the affirmative defenses. Instead, the tribes negotiated a stipulation regarding the production and use of the documents (“Stipulation”) in early March 1994. (Dahlstrom Deck, Tab C [343-3].) The Stipulation stated, in part: “The Navajo Nation does not want its compliance with [the court order] to cause a general or limited waiver of the Nation’s attorney-client privilege — except as to the documents subject to the Order and to the extent necessary to proceed with litigation.” (Id. at 2.) Before trial, United States District Judge Van Sickle, who had replaced Judge Strand, entered an order regarding discovery (“Order”). (Order of Mar. 17,1994, Hurst Deck, Ex. A-5 [348-7].) Under the Order, Hopi counsel gained access to the Navajo documents (“PIT documents”) and agreed to the retention of these documents by the court under seal. (Id.) The order permitted the Hopi to select any of the allegedly privileged documents for use in the PIT litigation. (Id.) The Order further provided that the selected PIT documents would be marked:

NAVAJO PRIVILEGED DOCUMENT

SUBJECT TO COURT ORDER

DO NOT COPY

(Id.) The Order placed restrictions on the copying or disclosure of any PIT document to a third party without first obtaining the written consent of the court or the Navajo. (Id.) Finally, the Order required the return of all PIT documents to the Navajo at the completion of litigation. (Id.) However, the Order did not include the non-waiver language on behalf on the Navajo contained in the Stipulation. (Id.)

Following the dismissal of Peabody and SCE from the action, the PIT litigation between the Navajo and Hopi proceeded to trial. (See J. of Feb. 24, 1994, Dahlstrom Deck, Tab H [348-7].) Both tribes introduced PIT documents as exhibits and a number of documents were read aloud in open court, without objection from the Navajo. (Hurst. Deck, Exs. A-7 to A-12 [348-9 to 348-14].) The tribes also included PIT documents in their post-trial briefs and in the appellate record before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. (Id. Exs. A-ll to A-13.)

B. The Disclosure of the PIT Documents

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
255 F.R.D. 37, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33014, 2009 WL 59063, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/navajo-nation-v-peabody-holding-co-dcd-2009.