Legal Issues: Slip and fall at a tribal casino

Tuesday, May 13, 2008  

"Slip and fall at one of California's 57 Indian casinos and you might have a case in court. But hurt yourself at another of them, perhaps one just miles down the highway, and your claim might be headed to a tribal council. Or to arbitration. Or to a claims adjustor. Or nowhere at all.

Ten years after Gov. Pete Wilson signed the first compact with a tribe allowing Las Vegas-style slot machines in California, personal-injury and property-damage protections in Indian casinos vary as widely as the tribes themselves.

Each of the 56 Class III gaming tribes in California has its own tort liability ordinance spelling out how it will process claims, according to the state Bureau of Gambling Control. Many tribes empower risk managers or their insurance carriers to decide a claim's validity. Some allow patrons to appeal claim denials to tribal courts or to councils of tribal elders. Others will take disputes to arbitration. Most do not recognize a role for California's trial courts.

Such diversity in tort systems rightfully reflects tribes that are protective of their sovereignty -- and sovereign immunity, tribal attorneys say.

"The tribe is a separate government," said San Rafael attorney George Forman. "Each has unique circumstances."

But the differences drive personal injury attorneys crazy. The small number of lawyers around the state who still take Indian casino cases say their colleagues have been scared off by what they say is vague wording in the ordinances and their frequent limits -- or outright bans -- on punitive and exemplary damages, attorneys fees and pain-and-suffering awards."

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