United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians v. United States

86 Fed. Cl. 183, 2009 U.S. Claims LEXIS 69, 2009 WL 764488
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedMarch 20, 2009
DocketNo. 06-936L
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 86 Fed. Cl. 183 (United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians 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
United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians v. United States, 86 Fed. Cl. 183, 2009 U.S. Claims LEXIS 69, 2009 WL 764488 (uscfc 2009).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER ON DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS

THOMAS C. WHEELER, Judge.

This case arises from the United States Government’s alleged breach of its fiduciary duty to the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma (“Keetoowah Cherokees”) to properly administer, provide an accounting of, and safely invest funds derived from the tribe’s assets. Before the Court is Defendant’s July 18, 2008 motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1) of the Rules of the Court of Federal Claims (“RCFC”) and 28 U.S.C. § 1500 (2006) (“Section 1500”). Section 1500 divests this Court of jurisdiction where a plaintiff has pending before another court a claim arising out of the same operative facts and seeking the same relief as the claim before the Court of Federal Claims. See 28 U.S.C. § 1500.

Defendant argues that Section 1500 precludes this Court from hearing Plaintiffs claim as a matter of law because Plaintiff filed a virtually identical complaint in federal district court on the same day as the complaint filed in this Court, which renders the district court complaint per se “pending” [185]*185within the meaning of the statute. Even if the district court complaint is not per se “pending,” Defendant contends that Plaintiff has failed to meet its burden of proving that it filed its complaint in the Court of Federal Claims prior to filing its complaint in federal district court. After considering the parties’ briefs and hearing oral argument, the Court concludes that time of filing is relevant to whether a claim is pending in another court and rejects Defendant’s per se rule. The Court has reviewed the parties’ joint stipulation of facts regarding the time of filing of the two complaints and determined that Plaintiff filed its complaint in the Court of Federal Claims first. Accordingly, Plaintiff does not have a claim “pending” in another court for the purposes of Section 1500, and Defendant’s motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction is DENIED.

Background

On December 29, 2006, Plaintiff filed two complaints against the United States and the United States Secretaries of Treasury and Interior acting in their official capacities: one in the Court of Federal Claims (“COFC Complaint”) and the other in the District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma (“District Court Complaint”). Both the COFC Complaint and the District Court Complaint arise from the alleged failure of the United States to fulfill certain obligations as part of its trust relationship with the Keetoowah Cherokees. (COFC Compl. ¶ 21, Dec. 29, 2006; Dist. Ct. Compl. ¶ 21, Dec. 29, 2006). The Keetoowah Cherokees entered into a treaty with the United States in 1828 by which the United States agreed to hold land in trust for the benefit of the Cherokee people. (COFC Compl. ¶ 6). Pursuant to this treaty and relevant statutes, the United States allegedly owes the Keetoowah Cherokees a fiduciary duty to provide periodic accountings and an annual audit of tribal trust funds. Id. ¶¶ 8-12.

Both complaints allege that Defendant has breached its trust duties in the management of Plaintiffs tribal assets. In identical language in the two complaints, Plaintiff asserts that Defendant failed to: (1) render an accounting of its tribal assets, (2) properly inform Plaintiff as to the status of its assets, (3) safely invest its assets for the benefit of the Keetoowah Cherokees, and (4) pay all proceeds derived from the sale of lands in trust for the benefit of the Keetoowah Cherokees into the United States Treasury. Id. ¶ 21; Dist. Ct. Compl. ¶ 21.

The two complaints demand overlapping but not identical relief. The COFC Complaint seeks: (1) damages in excess of $1 million and (2) “such other and further relief as may be just and equitable.” (COFC Compl. 7 ¶¶1-2). The “Nature of Action” section of the complaint explains further that the COFC Complaint is an action for damages and declaratory and injunctive relief. Id. ¶ 1. The District Court Complaint requests: (1) a declaratory judgment that Defendant owes Plaintiff the duty to provide the Keetoowah Cherokees periodic accountings of its trust assets and that Defendant has breached this duty; (2) an injunction requiring Defendant to fulfill its trust duties, including providing Plaintiff a historical accounting of all tribal assets; (3) damages in excess of $1 million; and (4) “such other and further relief as may be just and equitable.” (Dist. Ct. Compl. 7-8 ¶¶ 1-5).

On July 18, 2008, Defendant filed a motion to dismiss the COFC Complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to RCFC 12(b)(1). Defendant argues that Section 1500 bars this Court from hearing the COFC Complaint because the District Court Complaint filed the same day was per se “pending” under the statute. Plaintiff submitted its response on August 18, 2008 opposing the per se rule as a matter of law and contending that the District Court Complaint was not “pending” as a matter of fact because Plaintiff had filed the COFC Complaint earlier in time on December 29, 2006. Plaintiff also maintains that the two complaints involved different operative facts and sought distinct relief. Defendant filed its reply on October 3, 2008, and the Court held oral argument on the motion to dismiss on November 18, 2008.

After considering the parties’ briefs and hearing oral argument, the Court concluded that time of filing is relevant to the issue of whether a district court complaint filed the same day is “pending” under Section 1500. [186]*186Accordingly, the Court scheduled an eviden-tiary hearing to allow the parties to establish which complaint Plaintiff filed first on December 29, 2006. However, on February 27, 2009, the parties filed a Joint Stipulation Regarding Certain Facts Relating to Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1500 (“Joint Stipulation”), which obviated the need to hold an evidentiary hearing. The Joint Stipulation agreed that the only issue the Court needed to decide in order to resolve the time of filing was the times at which Plaintiff “delivered” its two complaints to the clerks of the respective courts. (J. Stip-¶ 1, Feb. 27, 2009). The parties then stipulated to the following:

• Plaintiffs counsel, McAfee and Taft, PC, sent a package with reference number “28930.00001” by Federal Express (“FedEx”) to the Court of Federal Claims on December 28, 2006. Id. ¶ 5.
• Fed Ex delivered the package to the office of the Clerk of the Court on December 29, 2006 at 9:01 AM Eastern Standard Time (“EST”). Id. ¶ 6.
• The Court of Federal Claims received the complaint on December 29, 2006. Id. ¶ 7.
• At 10:44 AM (EST) on that same day, someone by the name of “Triena” contacted Ala Carte Courier Service, Inc. of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma regarding a pick-up from “Macaffee & Taftee” that would be ready for delivery to “Muskogee Court Clerk, 101 N. 5th St., 918-684-7290” at 1:00. Id. ¶ 8.
• Ala Carte Courier Service, Inc. delivered a package from “McAfee & Taft, Donna Hinkle, 28930/00001” eo-signor “Trina K.

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

Related

Parker v. United States
131 Fed. Cl. 1 (Federal Claims, 2017)
United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians v. United States
104 Fed. Cl. 180 (Federal Claims, 2012)
Kaw Nation of Oklahoma v. United States
103 Fed. Cl. 613 (Federal Claims, 2012)
Nez Perce Tribe v. United States
101 Fed. Cl. 139 (Federal Claims, 2011)
Gilbreth v. United States
94 Fed. Cl. 88 (Federal Claims, 2010)
Mastrolia v. United States
91 Fed. Cl. 369 (Federal Claims, 2010)
Low v. United States
90 Fed. Cl. 447 (Federal Claims, 2009)
Berry v. United States
86 Fed. Cl. 750 (Federal Claims, 2009)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
86 Fed. Cl. 183, 2009 U.S. Claims LEXIS 69, 2009 WL 764488, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-keetoowah-band-of-cherokee-indians-v-united-states-uscfc-2009.