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Supreme Court takes a pass on tribal labor sovereignty dispute
Friday, July 1, 2016
The Little River Band
of Ottawa Indians owns and operates the Little River Casino Resort in Manistee, Michigan. Photo from Facebook
>
The U.S. Supreme Court
won't be wading into a controversial labor sovereignty dispute that affects tribal casinos nationwide.
The justices issued orders on Monday declining petitions in Little
River Band of Ottawa Indians Tribal Government v. NLRB and Soaring
Eagle Casino and Resort v. NLRB.
That means the Little River Band
of Ottawa Indians and the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe, both from
Michigan, won't be able to argue that their gaming facilities should be exempt
from the National
Labor Relations Act.
Law professor Matthew L.M. Fletcher, the director of the Indigenous Law and Policy Center at Michigan State University, told The Mt. Pleasant Sun News that he wasn't surprised by the court's move. Had the justices accepted the cases, he predicted it could have led to a 4-4 tie.
The Supreme Court deadlocked in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, a high-profile labor union case, in March due to the absence of Justice
Antonin Scalia, who died in February. His vote would have tipped the case in another way.
The court also deadlocked on Dollar
General Corporation v. Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, a closely-watched tribal jurisdiction case. In that situation, the tie benefited the Mississippi Band of Choctaw
Indians because it affirmed a lower court ruling in the tribe's favor.
The same would not be true for the Michigan tribes because because the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against them. A tie would merely affirm that decision although it would not set a nationwide precedent.
Get the Story:
Supreme Court won’t hear Tribe’s case
(The Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun 7/1)
$P 6th Circuit Court of Appeals Decisions:
Soaring
Eagle Casino v. NLRB (July 1, 2015)
NLRB
v. Little River Band of Ottawa Indians (June 9, 2015)
From the Indianz.Com Archive:
Tribal
labor law rider killed by wide margin in House (June 27, 2005)
NCAI between 'rock and a hard place' on labor
rider (September 13, 2004)
Tribal labor
amendment fails in House vote (September 13, 2004)
Federal labor board expands jurisdiction over
tribes (June 4, 2004)
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