Windham v. Medestar Locum Tenens CA4/2

California Court of Appeal·Decided February 28, 2024·No. E078518·Unpublished

Opinion

Filed 2/28/24 Windham v. Medestar Locum Tenens CA4/2 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION TWO

SUZONNE WINDHAM, Plaintiff and Appellant, E078518 v. (Super.Ct.No. CVRI2101244)

MEDESTAR LOCUM TENENS, LLC, et OPINION al.,

Defendants and Respondents.

APPEAL from the Superior Court of Riverside County. Sunshine S. Sykes, Judge.

Affirmed.

The Law Office of Karen J. Sloat, Karen J. Sloat; Hellmich Law Group and Christopher W. Hellmich, for Plaintiff and Appellant.

Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith, Lann G. McIntyre, Derek S. Sachs, and George J. Theofanis, for Defendant and Respondent Medestar Locum Tenens, LLC.

Suzonne Windham, plaintiff, filed a wage and hour lawsuit against defendants Medestar Locum Tenens, LLC (Medestar), a health care staffing agency, and MACT Health Board, Inc. (MACT), a health care consortium of two federally recognized tribes, as well as several federally acknowledged tribal organizations. After Medestar answered the complaint, MACT filed a motion to quash service of the summons on the ground of tribal immunity from lawsuits. Medestar joined the motion, which was granted by the trial court. Windham appeals.

On appeal, Windham argues (1) the trial court erred by conferring tribal immunity on Medestar derivative from its contractual relationship with MACT without requiring it to prove it was an arm of the tribe, and (2) Medestar waived immunity by filing an answer to the complaint. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

Medestar is a health care staffing agency, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, matching medical health care providers with health care facilities. MACT is a health care consortium of the Jackson Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California (now known as the Jackson Band of Miwuk Indians) and the Ione Band of Miwok Indians of California, as well as several federally acknowledged tribal organizations. The primary mission of MACT is to improve the health status of the American Indian Native population in its service area, comprising four counties that give MACT its name: Mariposa, Amador, Calaveras, and Tuolumne.

MACT is a nonprofit corporation formed in 1979. It is governed by a board of directors comprising three individuals who are: (1) members of federally recognized Native American tribes; and (2) appointed by the leadership of those tribes and an advisory council comprised of five individuals who are members of Native American tribes and appointed by the Native American communities they serve, which represents all Indian people living in the four-county service area. The board and advisory council are active in MACT’s administration and management.

MACT received federal funds as a subcontractor of the California Rural Indian Health Board from 1972 until 2012. In March 2013, MACT negotiated its own contract with Indian Health Service (IHS) under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA). On April 1, 2016, MACT renegotiated its ISDEAA agreement with IHS. Under these agreements, MACT receives funding from IHS to provide health care services to eligible members of Native American tribes.

In approximately January 2020, MACT contracted with Medestar to provide MACT with health care providers to work temporarily at one or more of MACT’s facilities. At that time, MACT had a staffing need for nursers. Medestar hired Windham as an independent contractor to work as a nurse at a MACT clinic in northern California for a fixed term of 90 days at $95/hour.

In March 2020, Medestar reclassified Windham as an employee. Medestar also extended Windham’s fixed-term contract but terminated her employment in April 2020 as the pandemic impacted many health care facilities. A wage and hour dispute arose

when her employment was terminated, and Windham filed a proposed class action against Medestar and MACT, alleging numerous causes of action under the Labor Code.1 In the complaint, Windham alleges that Medestar and MACT were her joint employers.

On September 14, 2021, Medestar answered the FAC, asserting various affirmative defenses, including sovereign immunity. On September 23, 2021, MACT filed a motion to quash service of summons and to dismiss the action on the ground of sovereign immunity (the motion). MACT requested judicial notice of the Federal Register, Volume 85, No. 20 pages 5462-5467 (Jan. 30, 2020), listing the Jackson Band of Miwuk Indians (formerly known as the Jackson Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California) and the Ione Band of Miwok Indians of California as Federally Registered Indian Tribes.

Attached to the motion documents were the articles of incorporation and the corporate bylaws of MACT reflects the corporate purpose: “The specific and primary purposes are to establish, govern, organize, and maintain and expand existing direct health care services, projects and programs for the Indian population of Central California and to provide and improve on the delivery of direct health services to the aforementioned population.” Additionally, the bylaws included the purpose of supporting the collection of artifacts of importance to Native Americans served, as well as to provide health care services to nonIndian population as deemed appropriate by the MACT Board of Directors.

1 A first amended complaint (FAC) was subsequently filed on August 19, 2021, but it is substantially the same as the original complaint, as is Medestar’s answer to the FAC.

Membership in MACT is limited to Federally Recognized Indian Tribes in the service area, who may apply for membership after participating as an advisory member for no less than three years. The bylaws further explain that the term “Federally Recognized Indian Tribe” means any tribal entity recognized and eligible for funding and services from the Bureau of Indian Affairs by virtue of its status as an Indian tribe.

Additional attachments to the motion included a tribal resolution by the Jackson Rancheria Band of Miwuk Indians designating MACT as a tribal organization, and authorizing MACT to contract with IHS for comprehensive health services to its members and other eligible Indians in the service area. A similar tribal resolution by the Ione Band of Miwok Indians also designated MACT as the local care provider of comprehensive health care and related services. This resolution named an official tribal delegate to serve on the MACT Board of Directors.

Finally, the attachments to the motion included an ISDEAA between MACT and the Department of Health and Human Services Indian Health Service. On September 23, 2021, Medestar joined in the motion.

Windham opposed both the motion by MACT and the joinder by Medestar and objected to the evidentiary matters proffered by MACT. Attached to Windham’s opposition papers was a copy of her employment contract with Medestar.

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