Saguaro Chevrolet, Inc. v. United States

77 Fed. Cl. 572, 2007 U.S. Claims LEXIS 235, 2007 WL 2172767
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedJuly 25, 2007
DocketNo. 06-714
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 77 Fed. Cl. 572 (Saguaro Chevrolet, Inc. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Saguaro Chevrolet, Inc. v. United States, 77 Fed. Cl. 572, 2007 U.S. Claims LEXIS 235, 2007 WL 2172767 (uscfc 2007).

Opinion

OPINION

HEWITT, Judge.

This action was brought by Saguaro Chevrolet, Inc. (Saguaro or plaintiff), a tenant of the Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT), against the government for money damages for breach of a fifty-year lease (Lease) between plaintiff and CRIT. The Lease was approved by the Secretary of the Interior. The action is before the court on defendant’s Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs Complaint and Memorandum in Support Thereof (defendant’s Motion or Def.’s Mot.). Defendant asserts that there is no privity of contract between plaintiff and defendant and therefore the court does not have subject matter [573]*573jurisdiction over plaintiffs claim or, in the alternative, that plaintiff has failed to state a claim on which relief can be granted. Def.’s Mot. 2. For the following reasons, the court GRANTS defendant’s motion to dismiss.

I. Background

Plaintiff, a ear dealership, brought this action to “enforce a contract between [itself, CRIT], and the United States.” Complaint (Compl.), Oct. 16, 2006, 1. On August 20, 1981, CRIT and Saguaro entered a fifty-year lease for land on which plaintiff operates a car dealership and service facility. Compl. 1; Plaintiffs Response to Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs Complaint and Memorandum in Support Thereof (plaintiffs Response or Pl.’s Resp.), Feb. 23, 2007, App. A (copy of the Lease). Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. § 415(a) (1976) and 25 C.F.R. § 131.5(a) (1981), the Lease between plaintiff and CRIT was approved by the Secretary of the Interior, Compl. 1, because the Secretary of the Interior must approve leases of restricted Indian lands, or Indian land held in trust, 25 U.S.C. § 415(a) (2000) (originally enacted as Act of Aug. 9, 1955, ch. 615, § 1, 69 Stat. 539); 25 C.F.R. § 162.604(a) (2007).1

On or about July 20, 2001 and August 20, 2001, CRIT informed plaintiff of three alleged lease defaults. Compl. 1. Plaintiff alleges that, on or about August 31, 2001, it provided CRIT with documents demonstrating that there were no Lease defaults. Compl. 2. CRIT, on or about February 11, 2003, canceled the Lease when the Acting Superintendent of the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) provided certified mail notice of cancellation to plaintiff. Id. Plaintiff filed a notice of appeal to the BIA Western Regional Office (Regional Office) on or about March 7, 2003. Id. The Regional Office denied plaintiffs appeal on or about June 15, 2004. Id. Plaintiff alleges that on or about July 14, 2004, it mailed its notice of appeal to the Interior Board of Indian Appeals Office of Hearing and Appeals (IBIA) filing office. Id. On or about December 20, 2005, IBIA issued a denial of receipt of notice of appeal and requested proof of mailing. Id.2 Plaintiff filed a statement of compliance and proof of mailing on or about January 4, 2006. Id. On May 30, 2006, IBIA dismissed the appeal as untimely filed. Id. Plaintiff filed its complaint with this court on January 16, 2007, seeking “an [o]rder directing specific performance of the [I]ease or for damages in the amount of $1,675,000.00,” and attorneys fees.3 Compl. 4.

On January 16, 2007, defendant filed its motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(1) or, in the alternative, Rule 12(b)(6), of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims (RCFC). Def.’s Mot. 1. Defendant argues that the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction because plaintiff cannot establish privity of contract between plaintiff and defendant and “thus has failed to assert subject matter jurisdiction over its claim for money damages.” Id. at 2. Defendant alternatively argues that “[p]laintiff has failed to state a claim for money damages upon which relief can be granted.” Id. Plaintiff filed its response to defendant’s motion on February 23, 2007. Pl.’s Resp. 1. Plaintiff filed a Supplement to Its Response to Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs Complaint and Memorandum in Support Thereof (plaintiffs Supplement or Pl.’s Supplement) on Febru[574]*574ary 27, 2007.4 Defendant filed its Reply Memorandum in Further Support of Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs Complaint (Reply or Def.’s Reply) on March 15, 2007. Def.’s Reply 1.

On March 19, 2007, the court held a status conference with the parties to discuss and clarify defendant’s contention in its motion to dismiss that “[f]or the purposes of this motion only, the facts contained in [plaintiffs] Complaint are not in dispute.” Def.’s Mot. 4. As the court pointed out during the status conference, in defendant’s motion and subsequent briefing, defendant did in fact dispute the jurisdictional facts contained in plaintiffs complaint. Id. passim; Def.’s Reply passim. In response to the court’s inquiry, defendant stated that it was abandoning its contention that “the facts contained in [plaintiffs] Complaint are not in dispute.” Telephonic Status Conference (TSC) Transcript, March 21, 2007 (TSC Tr.) 7:1-7 (Ms. Klein, counsel for defendant). During the status conference, the court also inquired about a copy of a lease defendant had attached to its Reply and identified as a lease between one Richard M. Warr and the Yakima Tribal Council (the Warr lease). Def.’s Reply Ex. A. After a discussion of how it would be possible to verify the authenticity of the Warr lease and the relevance of the Warr lease to this case, TSC Tr. 9:1—17:9, defendant stated that it would withdraw the Warr lease and rest its “argument on the strength of the rest of [its] brief,” Tr. 17:10-14 (Ms. Klein). The court then directed the parties to file additional briefing in which defendant would present and plaintiff would respond to a revised brief that contests the jurisdictional facts (in which briefing defendant would not rely on the Warr lease). TSC Tr. 17:24—20:20.

On April 6, 2007, defendant filed its Sur-reply Memorandum in Further Support of Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs Complaint (defendant’s Surreply or Def.’s Surreply).5 Def.’s Surreply 1. Plaintiff filed its Sur-Surreply Regarding Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs Complaint and Supporting Memorandum (plaintiffs Sur-Surreply or Pl.’s Sur-Surreply) on May 3, 2007.6 Pl.’s Sur-Surreply 1. The court held oral argument, telephonically, on May 23, 2007. See Transcript of Oral Argument, May 23, 2007 (OA Tr.), passim.

II. Standards of Review

RCFC 12(b)(1) governs dismissal of claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. RCFC 12(b)(1). When a defendant challenges this court’s jurisdiction pursuant to RCFC 12(b)(1), the plaintiff bears the burden to show by a preponderance of the evidence that jurisdiction is proper. Reynolds v. Army & Air Force Exch. Serv. (Reynolds), 846 F.2d 746, 748 (Fed.Cir.1988).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Hollowell v. United States
Federal Claims, 2025
Hollywood Mobile Estates Ltd. v. Seminole Tribe
641 F.3d 1259 (Eleventh Circuit, 2011)
Wapato Heritage, L.L.C. v. United States
637 F.3d 1033 (Ninth Circuit, 2011)
Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians v. Davis
728 F. Supp. 2d 1287 (D. Utah, 2010)
Phang v. United States
87 Fed. Cl. 321 (Federal Claims, 2009)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
77 Fed. Cl. 572, 2007 U.S. Claims LEXIS 235, 2007 WL 2172767, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/saguaro-chevrolet-inc-v-united-states-uscfc-2007.