Dillon v. Yankton Sioux Tribe Housing Authority, No. 97-3107
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (8th Circuit) |
| Writing for the Court | Before BEAM and HEANEY; HEANEY |
| Citation | 144 F.3d 581 |
| Parties | 77 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 587 Golman A. DILLON, Jr., also known as Bill A. Dillon, Appellant, v. YANKTON SIOUX TRIBE HOUSING AUTHORITY, Appellee. |
| Docket Number | No. 97-3107 |
| Decision Date | 20 May 1998 |
Page 581
v.
YANKTON SIOUX TRIBE HOUSING AUTHORITY, Appellee.
Eighth Circuit.
Decided May 20, 1998.
Page 582
A. Russell Janklow, Sioux Falls, SD, argued (Steven M. Johnson, Chad W. Swenson and Sheila S. Woodward, on the brief), for Appellant.
David V. Heisterkamp, II, Denver, CO, argued (James F. Wagenlander, Mark S. Berry and Terry Pechota, on the brief), for Appellee.
Before BEAM and HEANEY, Circuit Judges, and WATERS, 1 District Judge.
HEANEY, Circuit Judge.
Golman Dillon was terminated by the Yankton Sioux Housing Authority (Authority). Claiming that he was fired because he is white, Dillon sued under various civil rights statutes in federal district court. The district court determined that it lacked jurisdiction due to tribal sovereign immunity and granted summary judgment for the Authority. We affirm.
I.
Dillon worked for the Authority as coordinator of their Comp/Grant Department. He was responsible for, among other things, modernizing Indian housing developments on the Yankton Sioux Reservation. Dillon claims that he was terminated because he is white and brought suit under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1985, 1986 and Title VII, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e-2(m). Consequently, we must determine whether the Authority's motion to dismiss, which the district court converted into a summary judgment motion, was properly granted due to sovereign immunity.
Dillon claims that the Yankton Sioux Tribe has waived sovereign immunity by allowing the Authority to be sued in its authorizing charter. Tribal Resolution No. 77-71, Article V(2) states:
The Committee hereby gives its irrevocable consent to allowing the Authority to sue and be sued in its corporate name, upon any contract, claim or obligation arising out of its activities under this ordinance and hereby authorizes the Authority
Page 583
to agree by contract to waive any immunity from suit which it might otherwise have, but the Tribe shall not be liable for the debts or obligations of the Authority.(J.A. at 30.) Dillon argues that because the Authority receives federal financial assistance from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and thereby must agree to comply with federal civil rights laws, it has waived sovereign immunity. Dillon suggests that it would be incongruous for the Authority to agree to follow federal law, yet shield itself from suit in federal court. The district court agreed that a contract with HUD, under which Dillon receives his salary, could be an effective waiver of sovereign immunity for purposes of interpreting the "sue and be sued" provision quoted above. Nevertheless, the court determined that the contract did not expressly waive sovereign immunity. 2 Alternatively, Dillon contends that the Authority was a corporation created by the Tribe and should be subject to suit like any other corporate entity created by the United States.
II.
We review a district court's grant of summary judgment de novo. United States ex. rel. Glass v. Medtronic, Inc., 957 F.2d 605, 607 (8th Cir.1992). In considering whether to grant summary judgment, a court examines all the "pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories ... admissions on file ... [and] affidavits." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). After viewing the record in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party,...
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...immunity certainly extends to tribal officers or agencies. Hagen, 205 F.3d at 1043 (citing Dillon v. Yankton Sioux Tribe Housing Auth., 144 F.3d 581, 583 (8th Cir. 1998) ). However, the United States Supreme Court has held tribal officers are not protected by the tribe's immunity from suits......
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