Lawsuit from former executive at National Congress of American Indians sent back to D.C. court

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A welcome mat at the Embassy of Tribal Nations in Washington, D.C., home to the National Congress of American Indians. Photo by Indianz.Com (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

Friday, September 23, 2022

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A lawsuit filed by the former chief executive officer of the National Congress of American Indians will proceed in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

Dante Desiderio filed a complaint on June 24 after being suspended as CEO earlier in the month. He is accusing NCAI of “race-based” discrimination in connection with his hiring of two non-Indians at the largest inter-tribal advocacy organization in the United States.

NCAI subsequently sought to have the case removed to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, which is part of the federal system. But a federal judge denied the request on Monday, citing a “lack of removal jurisdiction.”

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In the meantime, however, the D.C. Superior Court judge assigned to the case canceled an initial scheduling conference that was due to take place on Friday morning. The step was taken in anticipation of the lawsuit being removed to the federal system.

But now that the case is indeed being litigated in D.C. Superior Court, the initial conference will be rescheduled for a later date.

Desiderio served as CEO of NCAI for only about a year before he was placed on temporary administrative leave on June 10. The reasons for the decision were not disclosed by the organization at the time.

In his complaint, however, Desiderio discloses that his suspension came in connection with a sexual harassment investigation into one of the non-Indians he brought on board at NCAI.

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According to the D.C. Superior Court docket, NCAI was served with the lawsuit on August 12. Later in the day, the organization announced it had “parted ways” with Desiderio.

NCAI has since announced Larry Wright Jr., a former chairman of the Ponca Tribe, as its new executive. The organization returned to the use of the “Executive Director” title, as had long been custom since its founding in 1944.

Desiderio’s lawsuit has been assigned to Judge Juliet J. McKenna on the D.C. Superior Court. Future proceedings will be viewable online through the WebEx conferencing link attached to her courtroom.

The case is Dante Desiderio v. National Congress of American Indians, No. 2022 CA 002830 B. Records can be accessed online at dccourts.gov.