Wright v. United States

32 Fed. Cl. 54, 1994 U.S. Claims LEXIS 182, 1994 WL 496784
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedSeptember 13, 1994
DocketNo. 94-21L
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 32 Fed. Cl. 54 (Wright 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
Wright v. United States, 32 Fed. Cl. 54, 1994 U.S. Claims LEXIS 182, 1994 WL 496784 (uscfc 1994).

Opinion

OPINION

BRUGGINK, Judge.

This action, brought pursuant to the Tucker Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1491 (1988), is before the court on the Government’s motion to dismiss. The motion is asserted under both RCFC 12(b)(1), lack of subject matter jurisdiction, and RCFC 12(b)(4), failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. After considering the parties’ written and oral arguments, the court concludes that the action should be dismissed for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND1 Sam Tagg, a Cherokee Indian, died in 1952 leaving to his heirs a tract of land in Clare-more, Rogers County, Oklahoma (“the Clare-more property”). Plaintiff was named executrix of Tagg’s estate and subsequently obtained power of attorney from the five other heirs involved.2 Toward the end of 1986, prior to a determination of Tagg’s heirs, she negotiated a three-year lease agreement on the Claremore property with Pipes, Inc. (“Pipes”).

Although the lease agreement between plaintiff and Pipes was not approved by the Secretary of the Interior, Pipes immediately took possession and set up a smoke shop.3 In December 1989, after renewed negotiations with plaintiff had reached an impasse, Pipes contacted two of the other heirs in an effort to continue the lease. As a result of these negotiations, Pipes entered into a lease agreement (“1990 lease”) with Henry Tagg, Sr., and Callie Tagg-Horton which purported to permit it to continue its smoke shop operation on the Claremore property. Even though the remaining four heirs refused to sign the lease, this agreement was subsequently approved by the Superintendent of the local Bureau of Indian Affairs (“BIA”) on January 11, 1990. Plaintiff alleges that the 1990 lease was executed in violation of applicable regulations requiring advertising, sealed bidding, and the posting of a surety bond. See 25 C.F.R. §§ 162.5, 162.7 (1990). Moreover, it was executed before the lapse of the three-month period within which heirs are allowed to attempt to reach agreement on lease terms. See 25 C.F.R. § 162.2(a).

On June 4, 1991, the BIA Area Director vacated the Superintendent’s approval of the 1990 lease, finding that the Superintendent had no authority to approve such a lease under 25 C.F.R. § 162.2(a). This decision was affirmed by the Interior Board of Indian Appeals on April 2, 1992. Four weeks later, the Secretary of the Interior issued a cease- and-desist order to Pipes ordering it to terminate its smoke shop operation on the Claremore property. Despite this order, Pipes continued to operate its smoke shop until the decision of the Interior Board of Indian Appeals was affirmed by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma. Pipes, Inc. v. United States, No. 92-C-373-B, 1992 WL 684917 (N.D.Okla.1992).

Plaintiff now seeks in excess of twenty-five million dollars from the United States Government as compensation for what she alleges are breaches of various fiduciary duties owed to her by the Secretary of the Interior. Plaintiff argues that she is entitled to these damages because of the BIA’s improper approval of the 1990 lease and the Secretary’s failure to remove Pipes from the property subsequent to the lease being found invalid.

DISCUSSION

It is a fundamental precept of our judicial system that “[t]he United States, as sovereign, is immune from suit save as it [56]*56consents to be sued, and the terms of its consent to be sued in any court define that court’s jurisdiction to entertain the suit.” United States v. Sherwood, 312 U.S. 584, 586, 61 S.Ct. 767, 769-70, 85 L.Ed. 1058 (1941) (citations omitted). Plaintiff premises jurisdiction here upon the Tucker Act, which gives this court jurisdiction over “any claim against the United States founded either upon the Constitution, or any Act of Congress or any regulation of an executive department, or upon any express or implied contract with the United States____” 28 U.S.C. § 1491. However, the Tucker Act is “only a jurisdictional statute; it does not create any substantive right enforceable against the United States for money damages.” United States v. Testan, 424 U.S. 392, 398, 96 S.Ct. 948, 953, 47 L.Ed.2d 114 (1976). Rather, the Act merely confers jurisdiction on this court when a substantive right to recovery exists. Id, The plaintiff must invoke a right to monetary relief that is found in some other source of law. The plaintiff must demonstrate that the source of substantive law she relies upon “can fairly be interpreted as mandating compensation by the Federal Government for the damage sustained.” Eastport S.S. Corp. v. United States, 372 F.2d 1002, 178 Ct.Cl. 599, 607 (1967).

Plaintiff contends that her substantive right to monetary compensation arises out of numerous sources: 25 C.F.R. Part 162 (Federal regulations dealing with the leasing of Indian land) (“Part 162”); Act of August 8, 1946, ch. 907, 60 Stat. 939 (Act permitting the Secretary of the Interior to delegate his powers in order to facilitate and simplify the administration of Indian affairs); Act of June 16,1906, ch. 3335, 34 Stat. 267 (Act to enable the people of Oklahoma and of the Indian Territory to form a constitution and State government and be admitted into the Union on equal footing with the original states); 25 U.S.C. § 403 (1988) (dealing with leases of Indian lands held under a trust patent); 25 U.S.C. § 450m (Supp. V 1993) (dealing with the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to rescind certain Indian contracts).

Although these statutory and regulatory sources can arguably be viewed as creating a general trust relationship between the United States and Indian land owners, the court concludes for the following reasons that the complaint must be dismissed because none of the above sources can be fairly interpreted as making the Government susceptible to suits for monetary compensation for breach of trust.

The fiduciary relationship between the United States and individual Indians was addressed extensively in two related cases, United States v. Mitchell, 445 U.S. 535, 542-44, 100 S.Ct. 1349, 1353-54, 63 L.Ed.2d 607 (1980) (“Mitchell I”), and United States v. Mitchell, 463 U.S. 206, 219-26, 103 S.Ct. 2961, 2969-72, 77 L.Ed.2d 580 (1983) (“Mitchell II ”).

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32 Fed. Cl. 54, 1994 U.S. Claims LEXIS 182, 1994 WL 496784, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wright-v-united-states-uscfc-1994.