Butler v. Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe

Background

Frances Elaine Butler represented herself in an employment dispute with the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. Butler worked as a director for the Band from June 5, 2018, through March 31, 2020. She alleged that after she reprimanded a receptionist who was Faron Jackson’s niece, the defendants retaliated against and harassed her. She said she received large projects with short deadlines, was excluded from tribal council and management events, was demoted, and was ultimately fired.

Butler alleged that she filed a grievance against Jackson on March 16, 2020, and that Robert Whipple responded that the Band would terminate her if she pursued the grievance. She later filed a discrimination charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which dismissed the charge and issued her a right-to-sue letter. Butler filed this federal case on November 16, 2020.

Her complaint alleged age discrimination under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, an Equal Pay Act violation, retaliation, harassment, intimidation, wrongful demotion and termination, and unidentified state-law violations. The defendants moved to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, meaning they argued that the federal court lacked authority to hear the claims.

Federal claims and tribal immunity

The court granted the motion to dismiss the federal claims based on tribal sovereign immunity. That doctrine generally protects an Indian tribe from lawsuits unless Congress has authorized the suit or the tribe has waived its immunity. The court held that the Band had not waived immunity and that the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Equal Pay Act, and Title VII did not remove the Band’s immunity for these claims.

The court also stated that, even if the Band were not immune, Butler could not establish subject-matter jurisdiction because the statutes did not apply to the purely internal tribal employment matters alleged here. The court cited its conclusion that Title VII and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act did not allow liability against individually named defendants. Although the Equal Pay Act can allow individual liability in some circumstances, the court held that Butler could not bring that claim against the individual officers as representatives of the Band.

The opinion also noted Butler’s assertion that the defendants violated the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act by discussing her demotion. The court did not address that issue because Butler did not allege that the defendants disclosed medical records or personal health information and did not allege a claim under that statute.

State-law claims and disposition

The court declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction, meaning authority to hear related state-law claims, over any state-law claims after eliminating the federal claims. It therefore dismissed the state-law claims without prejudice, leaving them available for possible pursuit in state court.

The court ordered that the defendants’ motion to dismiss was granted and that the case was dismissed without prejudice. Judge David S. Doty signed the order on June 28, 2021.