Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians v. Crosby

122 F. Supp. 3d 982, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 107465, 2015 WL 4879650
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedAugust 14, 2015
DocketNo. 2:15-cv-00538-GEB-CMK
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 122 F. Supp. 3d 982 (Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians v. Crosby) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians v. Crosby, 122 F. Supp. 3d 982, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 107465, 2015 WL 4879650 (E.D. Cal. 2015).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART MOTIONS TO DISMISS THE FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT

GARLAND E. BURRELL, JR., Senior District Judge.

The following Defendants seek dismissal of claims in Plaintiffs’ First Amended Complaint (“FAC”): Ines Crosby, John Crosby, Leslie Lohse, Larry Lohse (collectively, the “Employee Defendants”), Juan Pata, Chris Pata, Sherry Myers, Frank James, The Patriot Gold & Silver Exchange, Norman R. Ryan (collectively, with the Employee Defendants, “Pata Defendants”), Umpqua Bank, Umpqua Holdings Corporation (collectively, “Umpqua Defendants”), Cornerstone Community Bank, Cornerstone Community Bancorp, Jeffery Finck (collectively, “Cornerstone Defendants”), Garth Moore, Garth Moore Insurance and Financial Services, Inc. (collectively, “Moore Defendants”), Associated Pension Consultants, Inc. (“APC”), Robert M. Haness, and Haness & Associates, LLC (collectively, “Haness Defendants”).

The Pata Defendants and Moore Defendants seek dismissal under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (“Rule”) 12(b)(1) for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Umpqua Defendants, Cornerstone Defendants, Moore Defendants, APC, and Haness Defendants seek dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim.

I. FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS

The following factual allegations in the FAC relate to the motions. Plaintiff Pask-enta Band of Nomlaki Indians (“the Tribe”) employed the Employee Defendants in executive roles for -more than a decade. Plaintiffs allege the Employee Defendants used their positions to embezzle millions of dollars from the Tribe and its principal business entity, the Paskenta Enterprises Corporation (“PEC”). Plaintiffs allege the Employee Defendants stole this money from Plaintiffs’ bank accounts at Umpqua Bank and Cornerstone Bank by withdrawing large sums for their personal use, and that the Employee Defendants caused the Tribe to invest in two unauthorized retirement plans for their personal benefit: a ■ defined benefit plan (“Tribal Pension Plan”) ánd a 401(k) (“Tribal 401(k)”) (collectively “Tribal Retirement Plans”). Plaintiffs allege the Employee Defendants kept their activities hidden from Plaintiffs through inter alia, harassment, intimidation, and cyber-at-tacks on the Tribe’s computers.

Plaintiffs further allege the remaining Defendants knowingly assisted the Employee Defendants in aspects of their scheme. Plaintiffs allege the Umpqua Defendants and the Cornerstone Defendants controlled banks where Plaintiffs maintained accounts and, despite knowing the Employee Defendants were withdrawing [988]*988money from these accounts for their personal benefit, permitted the Employee Defendants to make withdrawals and failed to notify. Plaintiffs of the Employee Defendants’ actions. Plaintiffs also allege the Moore Defendants, as Plaintiffs’ financial advisors, and APC, as the third-party administrator for the Tribal Retirement Plans, assisted the Employee Defendants in setting up and administering the unauthorized Tribal Retirement Plans, and that the Haness Defendants as actuaries for the Tribal Pension Plan, , assisted the Employee Defendants in setting up and administering that Plan.

ÍI. DISCUSSION

A. Subject Matter Jurisdiction

Pata Defendants and Moore Defendants each argue this lawsuit should be dismissed since the allegations in Plaintiffs’ FAC demonstrate the federal court- lacks subject matter jurisdiction over the lawsuit because Plaintiffs’ claims “are inextricably intertwined with internal [issues of] Pask-enta Tribal governance and the interpretation and application of Paskenta- Tribal law.” (Tribal Defs. Not. Mot. & MoC Dismiss - (“Pata Mot.”) 3:9-10, ECF No. 52; see also Defs. Garth Moore and Garth Moore Ins.'& Fin. Servs., Inc.’s Not. Mot. & Mot. Dismiss (“Moore Mot.”) 4:24-26, ECF No; 52.) '■

Plaintiffs respond:

This Court has ... subject matter jurisdiction ... based on several statutory provisions: First, ... the Court has federal question jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1331, as [Plaintiffs] ha[ve] stated claims under RICG, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961 et seq. and under the [Computer Fraud and Abuse Act],’ 18 U.S.C. § 1030.... Second‘[the court has subject matter jurisdiction since] the Tribe’s •governing body is federally recognized, [and] ... 28 U.S.C. § 1362 [states]:
“The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of all civil actions, brought by any Indian tribe ... with a governing body duly recognized by the Secretary of the Interior, wherein the matter in controversy arises under the Constitution, laws, or treaties .of the United States.” ..,
Third, based on the .. .• RICO claim, specifically, the Court has subject matter jurisdiction [under] ... 18 U.S.C, § 1964(a),(c). And fourth, the Court has ancillary jurisdiction over the ... pendent California state law claims under 28 U.S.C. § 1367.

(Pls.’ Opp’n Mot. Dismiss (“Opp’n”) 13:3— 17, ECF No. 73.)

The Pata Defendants and the Moore Defendants make what is considered a facial challenge to, the federal court’s subject matter jurisdiction. “In a facial [challenge], the challenger asserts that the allegations contained in the complaint are insufficient on their face to invoke -federal jurisdiction.” Safe Air for Everyone v. Meyer, 373 F.3d 1035, 1039 (9th Cir.2004). When deciding a facial challenge, Plaintiffs are afforded the same procedural protections as when faced with a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6); namely, the court “assume[s] [plaintiffs’] allegations to be true and draw[s] all reasonable inferences in [their] favor.” Wolfe v. Strankman, 392 F.3d 358, 362 (9th Cir.2004).

Pata Defendants and Moore Defendants have not shown that whatever they have referenced as “internal [issues of] Pasken-ta Tribal governance and the interpretation and application of Paskenta Tribal Law,” deprives the federal court of subject matter jurisdiction over Plaintiffs’ - claims. (Pata Mot. 3:9-10.) .

Therefore each motion challenging the federal court’s subject matter jurisdiction is denied.

[989]*989B. Failure to State a Claim

1. Legal Standard

“To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Caviness v. Horizon Cmty. Learning Ctr., Inc., 590 F.3d 806, 812 (9th Cir.2010) (citing Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009)).

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122 F. Supp. 3d 982, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 107465, 2015 WL 4879650, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/paskenta-band-of-nomlaki-indians-v-crosby-caed-2015.