IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO

Transcription

1 Case 1:18-cv JB-SCY Document 15 Filed 10/01/18 Page 1 of 21 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO WORLD FUEL SERVICES, INC, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) V. ) Civil Action No. 1:18-cv KK-SCY ) NAMBE PUEBLO DEVELOPMENT ) CORPORATION, ) ) Defendant. ) ) MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF MOTION TO DISMISS I. INTRODUCTION TO ARGUMENT Plaintiff World Fuel Services, Inc. ( World Fuels ) has sued Defendant Nambe Pueblo Development Corporation ( NPDC ), seeking to compel arbitration based on a certain contract document which Plaintiff claims was executed by and between Plaintiff and NPDC in 2017 for certain fuel sales Plaintiff was performing and continues to perform on Nambe Indian Reservation lands at NPDC s travel center. See, the contract document at issue referenced in the Complaint as Exhibit 1. See also, s of the Randy Vigil Affidavit ( Vigil Aff d. ), attached to NPDC s Motion as Exhibit 1. Plaintiff seeks to use arbitration to compel NPDC to pay money to World Fuels to satisfy World Fuel s federal excise tax obligations derivative of certain fuel sales to NPDC delivered to NPDC s travel center on Nambe Indian Reservation lands, occurring during the period World Fuels claims the 2017 contract document has been in force. (Vigil Aff d., s 14-15). The NPDC Board of Directors has repudiated that contract

2 Case 1:18-cv JB-SCY Document 15 Filed 10/01/18 Page 2 of 21 because it was never submitted to the Board for its approval and has never been approved by the Board. (Vigil Aff d., 10). The sole Defendant named in this action is NPDC, a federally chartered corporation organized under 25 U.S.C. 477 (now recodified at 25 U.S.C. 5124) at the request and per the authorization of the Nambe Pueblo Tribal Council. (Vigil Aff d., 4). That statute provides inter alia: The Secretary of the Interior may, upon petition by any tribe, issue a charter of incorporation to such tribe: Provided, That such charter shall not become operative until ratified by the governing body of such tribe. Such charter may convey to the incorporated tribe the power to purchase, take by give, or bequest, or otherwise, own, hold, manage, operate, and dispose of property of every description, real and personal, including the power to purchase restricted Indian lands and to issue in exchange therefor interests in corporate property, and such further powers as may be incidental to the conduct of corporate business, not inconsistent with law; but no authority shall be granted to sell, mortgage, or lease for a period exceeding twentyfive years any trust or restricted lands included in the limits of the reservation. Any charter so issued shall not be revoked or surrendered except by Act of Congress. The NPDC charter was originally issued in 1994, but has been amended from time to time over the years. The version of NPDC s charter attached to and referenced as Exhibit 2 to the Complaint herein is the original 1994 charter. The current version of NPDC s charter was approved by the Secretary of the Interior in 2006 and ratified by the Nambe Pueblo Tribal Council in A true and correct copy of the 2007 charter is attached to the Vigil Aff d as Exhibit A. The 2007 charter has not been subsequently amended and now remains in force. (Vigil Aff d., 5). Article II of the 2007 charter sets out NPDC s corporate purposes as follows: 2.01 The purposes of this Corporation are as follows: 2

3 Case 1:18-cv JB-SCY Document 15 Filed 10/01/18 Page 3 of 21 (a) (b) To engage in any type of lawful business, enterprise, or venture, including, but not limited to, businesses, enterprises, or ventures transferred from the Nambe Pueblo to the Corporation, provided that the Corporation shall advise the Nambe Pueblo Tribal Council before initiating new business ventures. The Corporation shall retain authority to explore/study/perform due diligence on new business ventures or potential business opportunities. To promote the economic development of the Nambe Pueblo in a manner consistent with the social and cultural interests and values of the Nambe Pueblo. The federal excise tax dispute giving rise to the World Fuels demand for arbitration has its origin in commercial dealings and consensual commercial relationships between NPDC and World Fuels, which arose from fuel sales transactions between those parties occurring at NPDC s travel center located on Nambe Pueblo reservation lands, and which presently continue. (Vigil Aff d., s 11, 14-15). World Fuels predecessor-in-interest, Alta Fuels, Inc., later acquired by World Fuels, did enter into a valid and binding contract with NPDC in 2009 regarding fuel sales to NPDC to be delivered to the NPDC Travel Center for resale. That 2009 contract was duly executed by Herbert Yates, CEO on behalf of NPDC on April 8, 2009 after the NPDC Board approved that contract per Resolution NPDC as required by 301(e) and 701 of the NPDC charter. (Vigil Aff d., 6). Those sections of the NPDC charter provide: 301(e): To make contracts, guarantees, or agreements, incur liabilities and borrow money in any amount, from any source, upon such terms and such rates of interest as the Corporation may determine; to issue notes, bonds, and other obligations and secure any of its obligations by specifically mortgaging, pledging or assigning its corporate property or 3

4 Case 1:18-cv JB-SCY Document 15 Filed 10/01/18 Page 4 of 21 income as collateral for its corporate debts or liabilities, all without the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, except when its use of trust or Federally-restricted Indian property requires such approval. **** 701: Control and operation of this Corporation and all powers and authorities thereof shall be vested in its governing Board. The Board shall have full power and authority to manage and operate the Corporation in accordance with the powers and limitations set out in these Articles of Incorporation. The NPDC Board has recently learned that when the 2009 contract expired in 2012 a new contract document was signed by NPDC CEO, Herbert Yates, on March 20, 2012, but that contract document was never submitted for NPDC Board approval and no such approval was ever granted. (Vigil Aff d., 7) Likewise, when the purported 2012 contract expired in April 2017, another contract document was signed by NPDC Board President, Carlos Vigil on May 17, 2017 this time with Alta Fuels, Inc. s successor in interest, World Fuel Services, Inc. but NPDC Board approval was also never obtained for that contract document. (Vigil Aff d., s 8-10) The 2017 contract document is the contract upon which World Fuels bases its demand for arbitration. See, Exhibit 1 to the Complaint and Vigil Aff d., 8. From 2009 to the present, even after the NPDC repudiated the 2017 contract document in May 2018, fuel sales transactions between Alta Fuels (later World Fuels) have continued at the Travel Center on the Nambe Indian reservation lands. (Vigil Aff d., s 8, 11-14) The NPDC Board has confirmed that neither the contract document executed by Alta Fuels in 2012 nor the 2017 contract document executed by World Fuels in 2017 (the contract document here sued upon by World Fuels) were ever presented to the NPDC 4

5 Case 1:18-cv JB-SCY Document 15 Filed 10/01/18 Page 5 of 21 Board before they were signed, neither was ever approved by the Board, and both have been repudiated by the Board. (Vigil Aff d., s 7-11). Each fuel sale transaction between Alta Fuels/World Fuels and NPDC which has occurred at the Travel Center on Nambe Indian Reservation is itself a voluntary commercial consensual relationship which triggers Montana jurisdiction even in the absence of any separate written contracts between the parties. Cardin v. DeLa Cruz, 671 F.2d 363 (9 th Cir. 1982). Also, disputes arising after the expiration of a written voluntary consensual relationship involving commercial use of (and activity on) tribal land will independently anchor tribal jurisdiction under the Montana test. Water Wheel Camp Recreational Area, Inc. v. LaRance, 642 F.3d 802, 805, (9 th Cir. 2011) (tribal court had Montana jurisdiction to adjudicate tort claims against non-indian corporate lessor and its owner/manager seeking money damages grounded in consensual relationship evidenced by expired land lease and subsequent disputes). Further, since World Fuels, the non-indian party in this dispute, is the Plaintiff (not the defendant), it is clear that the Nambe Tribal Court is the appropriate forum for adjudication of this dispute under Williams v. Lee, 358 U.S. 217 (1959); Navajo Nation v. Dalley, 896 F.3d 1196, (10 th Cir. 2018) (reaffirming Williams v. Lee rule that absent Congressional authorization tribal courts rather than state courts have jurisdiction to adjudicate suits filed by non-indians against Indian parties regarding disputes arising from the Indian party s conduct within their Indian Country). Tribal Court jurisdiction exists under Williams v. Lee and its progeny independent of the test established under Montana v. United States, 450 U.S. 544 (1981); Fine Consulting, et al. v. George Rivera, 5

6 Case 1:18-cv JB-SCY Document 15 Filed 10/01/18 Page 6 of F.Supp.2d 1212 (D.N.M. 2013) (since tribal court had colorable jurisdiction under Williams v. Lee and Montana tests, suit involving dispute by non-indian party against tribal defendants involving contracts to be performed by non-indian on the reservation must be dismissed due to plaintiff failure to exhaust tribal remedies). The Montana test is only applicable when the non-indian party in such a dispute is or would be a tribal court defendant. It is also clear, however, that if Montana were otherwise applicable, that the exercise of tribal jurisdiction over this dispute would also be appropriate under that test. See, III, infra. II. THIS COURT IS REQUIRED TO DISMISS OR STAY PLAINTIFF S SUIT DUE TO THEIR FAILURE TO EXHAUST TRIBAL REMEDIES A. National Farmers Union v. Crow Tribe of Indians, 471 U.S. 845 (1985) and Iowa Mutual Insurance Company v. LaPlante, 480 U.S. 9 (1987) hold (except for certain exceptions not here relevant) 1. that where a party seeks to secure a federal court ruling on a civil cause of action arising on lands constituting a federally recognized Tribe s Indian Country based on voluntary transactions or other commercial relationships between one 1 National Farmers Union at 856. n.21 ( We do not suggest that exhaustion would be required where an assertion of tribal jurisdiction is motivated by a desire to harass or is conducted in bad faith, cf. Juidice v. Vail, 430 US 327, 338, 51 L Ed 2d 376, 98 S Ct 1211 (1977), or where the action is patently violative of express jurisdictional prohibitions, or where exhaustion would be futile because of the lack of an adequate opportunity to challenge the court s jurisdiction. ); El Paso Natural Gas Company v. Neztsosie, 526 U.S. 473 (1999) (exhaustion of tribal remedies not required where the Congress has clearly expressed an intent that a particular federal claim be heard only in a federal forum); Nevada v. Hicks, 533 U.S. 353, 369 (exhaustion of tribal remedies is not required where there is not even a colorable basis for exercise of tribal jurisdiction; held: since tribal court had no jurisdiction to adjudicate tort and 1983 claims against state officers, exhaustion of tribal remedies was not required as to suit pleading such claims). None of those exceptions apply here. 6

7 Case 1:18-cv JB-SCY Document 15 Filed 10/01/18 Page 7 of 21 of the parties to the dispute and a tribal member, tribe or tribal entity of that tribe (or Pueblo), the federal court must dismiss (or stay) the federal suit until plaintiff has exhausted its tribal remedies so long as there exist colorable tribal court jurisdiction over the claims pled under Montana v. United States, 450 U.S. 544 (1981) and/or Williams v. Lee, 358 U.S. 217 (1959). In this case, the tribal entity sued is NPDC. In Strate v. A-1 Contractors, 520 U.S. 438 (1997) and Atkinson Trading Co., Inc. v. Shirley, 532 U.S. 645 (2001), the Court reaffirmed the exhaustion of tribal remedies requirements of National Farmers Union and Iowa Mutual where there exists at least a colorable claim that the federal requirements for exercise of tribal jurisdiction over a non- Indian party either as plaintiff or as defendant are met. This exhaustion requirement has been reaffirmed many times. Norton v. Ute Indian Tribe of the Unitah and Ouray Reservation, 862 F.3d 1236 (10 th Cir. 2017) (District Court erred in failing to enforce plaintiff s duty to exhaust tribal remedies in suit against tribal officers and tribal business committee re dispute over role of county officers on reservation lands); Valenzuela v. Silversmith, 699 F.3d 1199 (10 th Cir (petitioner seeking habeas corpus relief based on detention by order of a tribal court was denied due to petitioner s failure to exhaust tribal remedies); Crowe & Dunlevy, P.C., v. Stidham, 640 F.3d 1140, 1149 (10 th Cir. 2011) (absent exceptional circumstances, federal courts are to abstain from hearing cases that challenge tribal court authority until tribal remedies, including tribal appellate review, are exhausted); Hartman v. Kickapoo Tribe Gaming Commission, 319 F.3d 1230, 1233 (10 th Cir. 2003) (affirming dismissal for failure to exhaust tribal remedies of a federal civil suit against Indian tribe, its gaming commission and individual gaming 7

8 Case 1:18-cv JB-SCY Document 15 Filed 10/01/18 Page 8 of 21 commissioners alleging wrongful suspension of plaintiff s tribal gaming license without a hearing) reaffirming that exhaustion of tribal remedies in such circumstances is mandatory; Smith v. Moffett, 947 F.3d 442, 446 (10 th Cir.1991) (order dismissing civil suit against various tribal officials to the extent the claims pled arose on the Navajo Indian Reservation and reiterating that the duty to exhaust tribal remedies in such cases is mandatory following the inflexible bar analysis of Granberry v. Greer, supra); Stock West Corporation v. Michael Taylor, 964 F.2d 912, 920 (9 th Cir. 1992) (en banc) (affirming dismissal for failure to exhaust tribal remedies of suit pleading civil tort claims filed by non-indian contractor against in-house non-indian attorney for tribe who provided legal opinion for Indian tribal corporations where the opinion was prepared on the reservation in connection with an on-reservation transaction between the tribal corporations and the non-indian contractor since there was colorable tribal court jurisdiction over the claims under Montana); Graham v. Applied Geo Technologies, Inc., 593 F.Supp.2d 915 (S.D. Miss. 2008) (requiring exhaustion of tribal remedies on former employee s civil suit against tribally-owned, tribally chartered corporation and various non-indian officers and employees thereof); TTEA Corp. v. Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, 181 F.3d 676 (5 th Cir. 1999) (exhaustion of tribal remedies required on tribe s claim that contract with non-indian was void under 25 U.S.C. 81); Ninigret Development Corp. v. Narragansett Indian Wetuomuck Housing Authority, 207 F.3d 21, 31 (1 st Cir. 2000) ( The tribal exhaustion doctrine holds that when a colorable claim of tribal court jurisdiction has been asserted, a federal court may (and ordinarily should) give the tribal court precedence and afford it a full and fair opportunity to determine the extent of its 8

9 Case 1:18-cv JB-SCY Document 15 Filed 10/01/18 Page 9 of 21 own jurisdiction over a particular claim or set of claims. ); Fine Consulting, et al. v. George Rivera, supra (dismissing plaintiff s suit seeking relief regarding tort and contract claims asserted by a non-indian plaintiff based on a contract to be performed for a tribal party in its Indian Country for failure to exhaust tribal remedies). B. This duty to exhaust tribal remedies applies even when plaintiff seeks to compel arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act or otherwise based on what Plaintiff contends is a binding contract containing an arbitration clause. Gaming World Int l, Ltd. v. White Earth Band of Chippewa Indians, 317 F.3d 840, (8 th Cir. 2003) (holding that exhaustion should be required when a party tries to avoid tribal court jurisdiction by seeking an order to compel arbitration in federal court. ); Bank One, N.A. v. Lewis, 144 F.Supp. 2d 640 (S.D. Miss. 2001) (exhaustion of tribal remedies required on non-indian bank s effort to compel arbitration on tort claims of fraud filed in Choctaw Court in connection with installment sales contracts executed with tribal members on Choctaw Indian Reservation which bank claimed contained binding arbitration clauses applicable to those claims), aff d sub nom Bank One, N.A. v. Shumake, 281 F.3d 507 (5 th Cir. 2002), r hrg and r hrg en banc den d, 34 Fed. Appx. 965 (5 th Cir. 2002), cert. den d., 537 U.S. 818 (2002); Basil Cook Enterprises, Inc. v. St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, 117 F.3d 61 (2d Cir. 1997) (exhaustion of tribal remedies was required in federal suit in which plaintiff sought an order compelling arbitration in connection with management agreement for onreservation casino); Stock West, Inc. v. Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, 873 F.2d 1221 m & n. 16 (9 th Cir. 1989) (requiring exhaustion after refusing to 9

10 Case 1:18-cv JB-SCY Document 15 Filed 10/01/18 Page 10 of 21 find that the federal Arbitration Act deprives tribal courts of jurisdiction); Legg, Inc. v. The Seneca Nation of Indians, 518 F.Supp.2d 274 (D.D.C. 2007) (arbitration clause in parties contract did not negate requirement to exhaust tribal remedies). In Bank One, supra at 281 F.3d , the Fifth Circuit rejected the bank s argument that the district court s duty to compel arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act superseded the court s duty to bar the plaintiff from proceeding in the district court based on diversity jurisdiction until the plaintiff had exhausted its tribal remedies. Also, in Bank One, there then existed a dispute on whether the parties involved had actually approved and agreed to be bound by a contract amendment which the bank claimed had added a binding arbitration clause. That question, the Court ruled, had to be decided by the tribal court in accordance with tribal law, including the tribe s choice of law rules in force at the time the purported contract amendment adding the arbitration clause supposedly went into effect. Id. at 509. C. Satisfying the duty to exhaust tribal remedies requires the plaintiff to seek adjudication of all the legal questions bearing on this dispute in the Nambe courts (including appeal to the Pueblo s designated appellate body the Southwest Intertribal Court of Appeals, per Nambe Tribal Council Resolution No ; see, (2). A true and correct copy of Title 2 of the existing Pueblo of Nambe Law and Order Code is attached to the Vigil Affidavit as Exhibit G). Iowa Mutual Insurance Company v. LaPlante, supra at 17 ( Until appellate review is complete, the Blackfeet Tribal Courts have not had a full opportunity to evaluate the claims and federal courts should not 10

11 Case 1:18-cv JB-SCY Document 15 Filed 10/01/18 Page 11 of 21 intervene ). Since Plaintiff has not exhausted its tribal remedies as to its claims, including Plaintiff s demand for arbitration, this suit must be dismissed or stayed until the Nambe Courts have been given the opportunity to rule on these and any other issues and defenses that may be germane to the dispute. D. The questions which must be put before the Nambe Courts include whether the 2017 contract document upon which World Fuels bases its demand for arbitration was lawfully executed and became a binding contract under Nambe law and the terms of NPDC s corporate charter, and interpreting whether the limited waiver of immunity set out at 301(b) of that charter is applicable to the 2017 contract document here at issue. NPDC contends that 301(b) of the charter is not applicable to the 2017 contract document even if it had otherwise become a valid and binding contract with NPDC Board approval. This is because nowhere in that contract document is there any language involving any property or income of the Corporation specifically mortgaged, pledged or assigned as collateral for particular corporate debts or liabilities. The limited waiver at 301(b) only applies to such contracts. In any event, this too is an issue that must first be addressed by the Nambe Tribal Court. MacArthur v. Jan Juan County, 309 F.3d 1216, 1227 (10 th Cir. 2002) (reversing district court s dismissal of claims arising within Indian Reservation boundaries on jurisdictional (sovereign immunity) grounds because district court should first have required exhaustion of tribal remedies to give tribal court first chance to rule on the 11

12 Case 1:18-cv JB-SCY Document 15 Filed 10/01/18 Page 12 of 21 sovereign immunity defense); and see, Sharber v. Spirit Mountain Gaming, Inc., 343 F.3d 974 (9 th Cir. 2003): Nor did the district court err in concluding that the tribal exhaustion requirement also applies to issues of tribal sovereign immunity. Determining whether the tribe has waived immunity, or whether Congress has abrogated its immunity, requires a careful study of the application of tribal laws, and tribal court decisions. Stock West Corp. v. Taylor, 964 F.2d 912, 920 (9 th Cir. 1992); see also Nat l Farmers, 471 U.S. at , 105 S.Ct Accordingly, the district court properly stayed its hand until after the... Tribal Courts have the opportunity to resolve the question. Stock West Corp., 964 F.2d at 920. Another issue the Nambe Court will have to address is the well-settled law that the unauthorized execution of contracts containing immunity waivers by officials or employees of a tribe or a 477 corporation are not effective to create an enforceable waiver of the tribe s or 477 corporation s sovereign immunity. Native American Distributing, supra at (immunity defense could not be overcome by resort to equitable arguments based on unauthorized signatures of corporate officials); Ramey, supra at 319 (rejecting argument that execution of contract without required approvals (even when officer signing for tribe certified that the contract was valid and legally binding ) effected waiver of immunity); Memphis BioFuels, LLC v. Chickasaw Nation Industries, Inc., 585 F.3d 917 (6 th Cir. 2009) (signatures of tribal corporate officials on contract containing sovereign immunity waiver was not effective to waive corporation s immunity where those waiver clauses had not been approved by the corporation s governing board), and cases there cited; World Touch Gaming, Inc. v. Massena Management, LLC, 117 F.Supp.2d 271, 276 (ND NY 2000) (Held: even if contract agent of Tribe had apparent or implicit, or even express, authority to bind the casino and 12

13 Case 1:18-cv JB-SCY Document 15 Filed 10/01/18 Page 13 of 21 the Tribe to contract terms, and other commercial undertakings, such authority is insufficient to waive the tribe s sovereign immunity. (Citations omitted). Similarly, any argument that subsequent acts or acquiescence in carrying out the contract entered into with apparent authority, estop the Tribe from claiming sovereign immunity must fail. ). In summary, if the 2017 contract document was lawfully executed and became binding on NPDC, then the arbitration and sovereign immunity waiver provisions of those contracts are legally binding on NPDC. But, if that contract document was never properly authorized or approved by NPDC s Board of Directors and this was required by 301(e) and 701 of the NPDC charter, then the 2017 contract is not binding on NPDC and the arbitration and sovereign immunity waiver provisions there set out are not and never have been effective. See, authorities cited supra; and, it is well-settled that a party who has not agreed to be bound by a contract containing an arbitration clause is not obligated to arbitrate based on that contract document. AT & T Techs, Inc. v. Communications Workers of Am., 475 U.S. 643, 648, 106 S.Ct. 1415, 89 L.Ed.2d 648 (1986 ( [A]rbitration is a matter of contract and a party cannot be required to submit to arbitration any dispute which he has not agreed so to submit. ); Granite Rock Co. v. Int l Brotherhood of Teamsters, 561 U.S. 287 (2010) (before a court can properly compel parties to arbitrate, the court must first determine whether a contract binding on the parties and containing an arbitration clause exists). See, in this regard, NPDC s response to World Fuels demand for arbitration attached as Exhibit F to the Vigil Affidavit. These are among the questions which must first be addressed by the Nambe Courts. 13

14 Case 1:18-cv JB-SCY Document 15 Filed 10/01/18 Page 14 of 21 E. Plaintiff s duty to exhaust tribal remedies did not go away just because Plaintiff won the race to the courthouse. That duty exists even when no tribal lawsuit is pending at the time a federal action is commenced. Brown v. Washoe Hous. Auth., 835 F.2d 1327 (10 th Cir. 1988) (dismissing non-indian plaintiff s suit for failure to exhaust tribal remedies even though no tribal court action involving that dispute was pending and expressly rejecting argument that exhaustion was not required in that circumstance); Smith v. Moffett, 947 F.2d 442, 445 (10 th Cir. 1991) (same); Sharber v. Spirit Mt. Gaming, Inc., 343 F.3d 974 (9 th Cir. 2003) (same); Burlington N. R.R. v. Crow Tribal Council, 940 F.2d 1239, (9 th Cir. 1991) (same); Weeks Const., Inc. v. Oglala Sioux Hous. Auth., 797 F.2d 668, (8 th Cir. 1986) (same); Ninigret Development Corp. v. Narragansett Indian Wetuomuck Housing Authority, 207 F.3d 21, 31 (1 st Cir. 2000) (same). Indeed, the whole federal policy of requiring exhaustion of tribal remedies would be rendered meaningless if that policy could be evaded by simply winning a race to the federal courthouse. This is especially true where, as here, the party seeking to evade tribal jurisdiction is a non-indian Plaintiff seeking judicial relief against a tribal entity for causes of action arising within that Tribe s Indian Country, as to which it has long been settled that tribal courts are the appropriate forums for resolving such disputes. Williams v. Lee, supra; Fine, supra. III. THE NAMBE TRIBAL COURTS CLEARLY HAVE COLORABLE JURISDICTION TO ADJUDICATE PLAINTIFFS TORT CLAIMS 14

15 Case 1:18-cv JB-SCY Document 15 Filed 10/01/18 Page 15 of 21 The headquarters of NPDC and its travel center are all located on Pueblo of Nambe grant or reservation lands and all NPDC s actions complained of by the Plaintiff occurred, if at all, on Pueblo of Nambe grant or reservations lands constituting a part of the Pueblo of Nambe Indian Country. (Vigil Aff d., s 12-14). Seem Garcia v. Gutierrez, 147 N.M. 105, 217 P.3d 591, and n.2 (N.M. 2009) (reaffirming that Pueblo of Pojoaque grant lands are Indian Country for civil jurisdiction purposes). Likewise, the Nambe Travel Center is located on Nambe Indian reservation lands (Vigil Aff d., 14). The Nambe Tribal Code clearly confers jurisdiction on its courts to hear and decide civil disputes arising from actions or inactions of NPDC occurring in the Nambe Indian Country. See, Exhibit G to Vigil Aff d., Section Civil Jurisdiction of that code provides: Civil Jurisdiction. The tribe s civil and regulatory jurisdiction extends to all persons and all activities on the reservation to the extent those persons or activities materially adversely affect or have potential for materially adversely affecting the health, welfare, land, waters, or resources and safety of the Nambe Pueblo and all persons within its boundaries, to the full extent permitted by federal law, and as to any persons entities engaged in consensual relations with the Pueblo or its members on the reservation, to the full extent permitted by federal law. A. In Williams v. Lee, 358 U.S. 217 (1959) the Court barred the exercise of state court jurisdiction over causes of action arising on Indian reservations in which non- Indians sought to sue Indians for such causes of action, ruling that tribal courts were the proper forum for hearing those cases. In this regard, the Court stated at pp. 220, 223: There can be no doubt that to allow the exercise of state jurisdiction here would undermine the authority of the tribal courts over Reservation affairs 15

16 Case 1:18-cv JB-SCY Document 15 Filed 10/01/18 Page 16 of 21 and hence would infringe on the rights of the Indians to govern themselves. It is immaterial that respondent is not an Indian. He was on the reservation and the transaction with an Indian took place there... The cases in this court have consistently guarded the authority of Indian governments over their reservations. (Citations omitted). Likewise, in Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez, 436 U.S. 49, (1978), the Court ruled that Tribal courts have repeatedly been recognized as appropriate forums for the exclusive adjudication of disputes affecting important personal and property interests of both Indians and non-indians. Under Williams v. Lee, where a cause of action arises on lands constituting a tribe s Indian country and involves a non-member plaintiff suing a tribal defendant, based on alleged civil wrongs committed by the Indian defendant on the reservation in derogation of the rights of the non-indian plaintiff, the propriety of tribal court jurisdiction to adjudicate such claim under federal law is well-settled. Navajo Nation v. Dalley, supra. Those kind of claims do not require analysis of the more rigorous sort required under Montana when the tribal court plaintiff is Indian and the tribal court defendant is non-indian as in Bank One, supra; see, Montana v. United States, 450 U.S. 544, (1981) (listing Williams v. Lee as example of case where tribal jurisdiction was clearly appropriate under consensual relations exception to Main Rule); see, Strate v. A-1 Contractors, 520 U.S. 438, 457 (1997) (construing Montana s reference to Williams v. Lee as declaring tribal jurisdiction exclusive over a lawsuit arising out of an onreservation sales transaction between non-member plaintiff and member defendants ). Three Affiliated Tribes v. Wold Engineering, 467 U.S. 138, 104 S.Ct (1984) makes 16

17 Case 1:18-cv JB-SCY Document 15 Filed 10/01/18 Page 17 of 21 clear that the same rule applies to tribal entity defendants as to tribal members; Dalley, supra. In Nevada v. Hicks, 533 U.S. 353, 357, n.2 (2001), the court noted that the typical case in which the court has addressed and upheld the exercise of tribal court jurisdiction have involved claims brought against tribal defendants. See, e.g., Williams v. Lee..., but also noting that: In Strate v. A-1 Contractors, 520 U.S. 438, 453, 117 S.Ct. 1404, 137 L.Ed.2d 661 (1997), however, we assumed that where tribes possess authority to regulate the activities of nonmembers, civil jurisdiction over disputes arising out of such activities presumably lies in the tribal courts, without distinguishing between nonmember plaintiffs and nonmember defendants. See also Iowa Mut. Ins. Co. v. LaPlante, 480 U.S. 9, 18, 107 S.Ct. 971, 94 L.Ed.2d 10 (1987). Our holding in this case is limited to the question of tribal-court jurisdiction over state officers enforcing state law. We leave open the question of tribal-court jurisdiction over nonmember defendants in general. Thus, while Hicks did rule that tribal courts could not adjudicate claims against state officers sounding in tort or arising under 42 U.S.C in cases filed by tribal members against those officers based on their on-reservation conduct carried out while on duty, the Court was careful to disclaim any holding on any broader issue respecting the scope of tribal court jurisdiction over non-indian defendants in general; Hicks, supra at 358, fn.2 and 373; and, nothing in Hicks otherwise undermined the existence of tribal court jurisdiction to adjudicate civil claims filed by non-members against tribal defendants under Williams v. Lee, 358 U.S. 217 (1959) (which established the basic rule that state courts may not adjudicate civil claims filed by non-indians against Indians on 17

18 Case 1:18-cv JB-SCY Document 15 Filed 10/01/18 Page 18 of 21 causes of action arising on defendants Indian reservation; proper forums for resolving such disputes are the tribal courts of those reservations). Plains Commerce Bank v. Long Family Land & Cattle Company, Inc. 554 U.S. 316, 128 S.Ct (2008) 2 did not alter the rules requiring exhaustion of tribal remedies. There the Court held that the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Courts could not (under Montana) adjudicate claims seeking to stop a bank from reselling certain non- Indian fee lands located within the reservation which had come into the bank s possession as the result of various prior loan deals gone bad. The Court left the pre-plains Commerce law of Montana and Williams v. Lee and their progeny (as to tribal court jurisdiction) and National Farmers Union and Iowa Mutual (as to exhaustion of tribal 2 While it was widely anticipated that the Plains Commerce case might issue binding rulings clarifying some of the basic principles governing when the exercise of tribal jurisdiction over non-indians is permitted under Montana, the Court s ruling does not contain any holdings which squarely address any of those issues. The Court reconfigured the facts of the case and restructured the Court s analysis so that it did not have to reach any of those fundamental issues. Given the way the Court moved the focus in Plains Commerce from the question whether the tribe could via adjudication in its courts regulate a non-indian bank s resale of non-indian owned fee land instead of whether the tribal courts had jurisdiction to adjudicate the Indian plaintiff s discrimination claims against the bank (and given the Bank s failure to challenge the tribal court s jurisdiction to decide the breach of contract claims tried to verdict against the Bank), the Court in Plains Commerce (as in Hicks) declined to issue any holding on whether the tribal court did or did not have jurisdiction to adjudicate any of the claims as tried in the tribal court. Plains Commerce, supra, at p ( The Bank may reasonably have anticipated that its various commercial dealings with the Longs could trigger tribal authority to regulate those transactions a question we need not and do not decide. ) and p. 2725, n.2 ( First, we have not said the Tribal Court has jurisdiction over the other claims: That question is not before us and we decline to speculate as to its answer. ). The court subsequently deadlocked 4 to 4 in Dollar General Corporation v. Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, 136 S.Ct (2016), leaving intact the Fifth Circuit s ruling in Dolgencorp, Inc. v. Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, 746 F.3d 167 (5 th Cir. 2014) holding that the Choctaw tribal court had jurisdiction under the Montana test over a tribal member tort claim against Dolgencorp, Inc. based on an alleged sexual assault of a minor tribal member by a Dollar General store manager while the minor was working at the Dollar General store on the reservation on a tribal work experience program per agreement with the company). 18

19 Case 1:18-cv JB-SCY Document 15 Filed 10/01/18 Page 19 of 21 court remedies) unchanged as to cases involving non-indian tribal court defendants; Philip Morris USA, Inc. v. King Mountain Tobacco Company, Inc., 469 F.3d 932, 940 (9 th Cir. 2009) (reiterating that Plains Commerce left intact the rule of Williams v. Lee under which tribal courts have exclusive jurisdiction over suits against tribal members on claims arising on the reservation ). B. Independent of the Williams v. Lee argument set out in Part A, supra, the parties past and ongoing fuel sales transactions which give rise to the parties tax dispute, and the independent execution of the 2017 contract document by an NPDC official, all occurred in the Nambe Indian Country, and the parties commercial dealings involving those fuel sales all constitute consensual relationships taking place there which give rise to colorable Tribal Court jurisdiction under the Montana test, even in the absence of any binding written contract.. Montana v. U.S., supra at 565; Strate v. A-1 Contractors, supra at ; Atkinson Trading Co. v. Shirley, supra at There is an obvious logical nexus between those commercial relationships as evidenced by the subject fuel sales transactions and the sole cause of action pled here; that is, the demand for arbitration based on the alleged contract by which World Fuels seeks to compel NPDC to pay money to World Fuels for federal excise taxes owed by World Fuels to the IRS based on some of those fuel sales. Atkinson Trading Company, Inc. v. Shirley, supra at 123 S.Ct. at 1833 (requiring that the cause of action pled must have some logical connection ( nexus ) to the underlying consensual relationships to anchor Montana jurisdiction); MacArthur v. San Juan County, 309 F.3d 1216, 1223 (10 th 19

20 Case 1:18-cv JB-SCY Document 15 Filed 10/01/18 Page 20 of 21 Cir. 2002) (the Montana nexus requirement is not met where there is no logical connection between the plaintiff s cause of action and the underlying consensual relationships). In these circumstances, the Nambe Tribal Court clearly has colorable jurisdiction to adjudicate Plaintiffs claims both under Williams v. Lee (because the non-indian party here involved is the Plaintiff) and Montana (because even if the non-indian party involved was a defendant, the Montana test is satisfied). C. As noted in Part A above, the basis for tribal court jurisdiction under Montana (and, more importantly, under Williams v. Lee) here is even stronger. Here it is a non- Indian Plaintiff who is seeking relief against a tribal entity grounded in their onreservation commercial dealings. Tribal court jurisdiction to adjudicate such claims is not just colorable, it is well-settled under Williams v. Lee and Montana. Nevada v. Hicks, 533 U.S. at 382 (Souter, J. concurring) ( It is the membership status of the unconsenting party that counts as the primary jurisdictional fact. ); Philip Morris USA, Inc. v. King Mountain Tobacco Company, 569 F.3d 932, 941, 945 and n.2 (9 th Cir. 2009) after Plains Commerce... the Montana analysis is controlling in tribal jurisdiction cases, with party alignment in the tribal court action as the most important factor to be weighed in determining the application of Montana s rule and exceptions to the case at hand. Phillip Morris s complaint does not allege claims based on King Mountain s sales of its cigarettes on the Yakama Reservation,... Cf. Smith, 434 F.3d at 1132 ( where the nonmembers are the plaintiffs, and the claims arise out of commercial activities within the reservation, the tribal courts may exercise civil jurisdiction ); 20

21 Case 1:18-cv JB-SCY Document 15 Filed 10/01/18 Page 21 of 21 CONCLUSION Thus, under National Farmers Union, supra, Iowa Mutual, supra, Plaintiffs are required to pursue their claims in the Nambe Pueblo Trial and Appellate Courts, thereby exhausting their tribal remedies and this Court is required to dismiss or stay Plaintiffs action in this Court. Dismissal is warranted and is here requested. Respectfully submitted, VanAMBERG, ROGERS, YEPA, ABEITA & GOMEZ, LLP By: /s/ C. Bryant Rogers C. BRYANT ROGERS RONALD J. VanAMBERG Post Office Box 1447 Santa Fe, NM Phone: (505) Fax: (505) CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that a true and correct copy of the foregoing was field electronically pursuant to CM/ECF procedures, which cause the parties or counsel to be served by electronic means, as more fully reflected in the Notice of Electronic Filing s/ C. Bryant Rogers 21