United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians v. United States

104 Fed. Cl. 180, 2012 U.S. Claims LEXIS 277, 2012 WL 1005907
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedMarch 27, 2012
DocketNo. 06-936L
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 104 Fed. Cl. 180 (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, 104 Fed. Cl. 180, 2012 U.S. Claims LEXIS 277, 2012 WL 1005907 (uscfc 2012).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER ON DEFENDANT’S RENEWED MOTION TO DISMISS

WHEELER, Judge.

This case again is before the Court on the Government’s renewed motion to dismiss the complaint of Plaintiff, the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma (“United Keetoowah” or the “Band”), pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1500 (2006). The Court previously denied an identical motion from the Government three years ago, on March 20, 2009. United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Okla. v. United States, 86 Fed.Cl. 183 (2009). It is undisputed that Plaintiff filed its complaint in this Court approximately four hours before filing in federal district court. The Government, however, argues that the sequence of filing no longer is pertinent to Section 1500’s applicability in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in United States v. Tohono O’odham Nation, — U.S. —, 131 S.Ct. 1723, 179 L.Ed.2d 723 (2011). For the reasons ex plained below, this Court rejects the Government’s reading of Tohono O’odham and DENIES the renewed motion to dismiss.

Background 1

The United Keetoowah initiated a breach of fiduciary duty action in this Court on December 29, 2006, at 9:01 AM (EST) (“CFC Complaint”), pertaining to the Government’s alleged mismanagement of the Band’s trust account. At 1:09 PM (EST) on the same day, the Band initiated a second breach of fiduciary duty action in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma (“District Court Complaint”).2 See No. 08-cv-01087-TFH.

Plaintiffs two actions are dependent upon the treaty rights of the historic Cherokee Tribe (the “Historic Tribe”) prior to the establishment of the State of Oklahoma. Compl. (Dec. 29, 2006), at ¶¶ 6-7. Judge Firestone presently is determining whether the United Keetoowah is a proper “successor-in-interest” to the Historic Tribe. United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians of Okla. v. United States (“United Keetoowah—NBF III”), 78 Fed.Cl. 303 (2007) (denying the motion to intervene of a rival successor-in-interest, “The Cherokee Nation”); see also No. 03-cv-01433-NBF. That matter is subject to ongoing administrative proceedings before the Interior Board of Indian Appeals (“IBIA”). See No. 2011-0122.

On July 18, 2008, the Government interposed 28 U.S.C. § 1500 and moved to dismiss the United Keetoowah’s CFC Complaint under Rule of the Court (“RCFC”) 12(b)(1).3 [182]*182At issue was the applicability of the Tecon sequence of filing rule to complaints filed on the same day. See Tecon Eng’rs, Inc. v. United States, 343 F.2d 943 (Ct.Cl.1965). A split of opinion exists among the judges of this Court on the applicability of Tecon when complaints are filed in two different courts on the same day. Compare Breneman v. United States, 57 Fed.Cl. 571 (2003) (Tecon applies), with Passamaquoddy Tribe v. United States, 82 Fed.Cl. 256 (2008), aff'd, 426 Fed.Appx. 916 (2011) (non-precedential) (Tecon does not apply).

In the March 20, 2009 ruling in this case, this Court adopted the view that Tecon applies and, therefore, treated the sequence of filing as an evidentiary matter for the Court to assess. See United Keetoowah—TCW I, 86 Fed.Cl. at 190-91. By doing so, the Court rejected an alternative per se approach, which treats claims filed on the same day as “simultaneous” and, therefore, equivalent to claims transferred from district court by operation of 28 U.S.C. § 1631. See id. Under United States v. County of Cook and its progeny, 170 F.3d 1084 (Fed.Cir.1999), claims transferred from district court by operation of Section 1631 fall outside of Tecon’s sequence of filing safe harbor.4 170 F.3d at 1091; see also Harbuck v. United States, 378 F.3d 1324, 1328 (Fed.Cir.2004).

After denying the Government’s 2008 motion to dismiss, the undersigned stayed the instant proceedings at the parties’ request, pending Judge Firestone’s ruling on the successor-in-interest issue. See Order (Apr. 20, 2009). In the interim, on April 26, 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in Tohono O’odham, directly addressing Section 1500’s “claim prong.” In a Joint Status Report (“JSR”) filed on October 31, 2011, the parties notified the Court that the Government intended to file a renewed motion to dismiss pursuant to its post-Tohono O’odham reading of Section 1500’s “pending prong.” JSR at ¶ 7. On November 1, 2011, the Court instructed Defendant to file its renewed motion by December 2, 2011 and granted the parties a final extension of the stay through March 30, 2012. Order at ¶¶2, 5. In the interim, the Court allowed the parties to conduct discovery on issues other than the successor-in-interest issue before Judge Firestone. Id. at ¶ 1.

On December 2, 2011, the Government filed a motion under RCFC 12(c) and 12(h)(3) to renew its July 18, 2008 motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction or, in the alternative, under RCFC 59(a) for reconsideration of the Court’s March 20, 2009 ruling denying that motion. See Def.’s Mem. (Dee. 2, 2011), at 6, 6 n. 1. Plaintiff responded on January 3, 2012, and the Government replied on January 20, 2012. The Court heard oral argument on February 22, 2012. The matter is fully briefed and ready for decision.

Standards of Review

In reviewing a motion to dismiss, the Court “must accept all well-pleaded factual allegations as true and draw all reasonable inferences in [the plaintiffs] favor.” Boyle v. United States, 200 F.3d 1369, 1372 (Fed.Cir.2000). Nevertheless, subject matter jurisdiction is a threshold issue to be considered before proceeding to the merits of a case. Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Env’t, 523 U.S. 83, 94-95, 118 S.Ct. 1003, 140 L.Ed.2d 210 (1998). Where subject matter [183]*183jurisdiction over a claim is at issue, the plaintiff must establish the Court’s jurisdiction by a preponderance of the evidence. Reynolds v. Army & Air Force Exch. Serv., 846 F.2d 746, 748 (Fed.Cir.1988) (internal citations omitted). However, “in determining whether a motion to dismiss should be granted, the [ ] Court may find it necessary to inquire into jurisdictional facts that are disputed.” Rocovich v. United States, 933 F.2d 991, 993 (Fed.Cir.1991). If subject matter jurisdiction is lacking, the Court must dismiss the claim. RCFC 12(h)(3). Given that RCFC 12(c) merely is a supplemental “procedural device to determine the sufficiency of the ease before proceeding any further,” a party may raise an RCFC 12(h)(3) defense on an RCFC 12(c) motion. 5C Charles Alan Wright & Arthur R. Miller et al.,

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104 Fed. Cl. 180, 2012 U.S. Claims LEXIS 277, 2012 WL 1005907, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-keetoowah-band-of-cherokee-indians-v-united-states-uscfc-2012.