Teague v. BAD RIVER CHIPPEWA INDIANS

• Decision Date: 17 July 2003
• Docket Number: No. 01-1256.,01-1256.
• Citation: 665 N.W.2d 899,265 Wis.2d 64,2003 WI 118
• Parties: Jerry TEAGUE, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. BAD RIVER BAND OF LAKE SUPERIOR TRIBE OF CHIPPEWA INDIANS, Defendant-Appellant, FIRST FINANCIAL BANK, Garnishee.
• Court: Wisconsin Supreme Court

265 Wis.2d 64

2003 WI 118

665 N.W.2d 899

Jerry TEAGUE, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. BAD RIVER BAND OF LAKE SUPERIOR TRIBE OF CHIPPEWA INDIANS, Defendant-Appellant, FIRST FINANCIAL BANK, Garnishee.

No. 01-1256.

Supreme Court of Wisconsin.

Oral argument November 7, 2002.

Decided July 17, 2003.

For the defendant-appellant there were briefs by Henry M. Buffalo, Jr., John E. Jacobson, Peter G. Griffin, and Jacobson, Buffalo, Schoessler & Magnuson Ltd., St. Paul, Minnesota, and oral argument by John E. Jacobson.

For the plaintiff-respondent there was a brief by Beth E. Hanan, Andrew W. Erlandson, and Reinhart, Boerner, Van Deuren, S.C., Milwaukee, and oral argument by Beth E. Hanan and Andrew W. Erlandson.

An amicus curiae brief was filed by Paul Stenzel and Stockbridge-Munsee Legal Office, Bowler; Kris Goodwill and Lac Courte Oreilles Legal Department, Hayward; Carol J. Brown and Brown & LaCounte, LLP, Madison; and Jennifer L. Nutt Carleton and Oneida Law Office, Oneida, on behalf of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community, Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin, Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, and Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin.

s 1. N. PATRICK CROOKS, J.

This case is before the court on certification from the Court of Appeals, District III, pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 809.61 (1999-2000).¹ The parties dispute whether a default judgment on the merits from the Bad River Band Tribal Court should be granted full faith and credit under Wis. Stat. § 806.245 when the same matter has also resulted in a judgment and orders from a Wisconsin circuit court. This case was certified by the court of appeals in order to resolve the issue of full faith and credit left unresolved in Teague v. Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians, 2000 WI 79, 236 Wis. 2d 384, 612 N.W.2d 709 (Teague II).

s 2. I would hold that the circuit court was required by Wis. Stat. § 806.245 to give full faith and credit to the tribal court judgment declaring the employment contracts at issue void and, thus, unenforceable. Accordingly, I would reverse the order denying a motion to reopen the judgment of the circuit court, which awarded damages to Jerry Teague (Teague), and remand for dismissal of the complaint, along with the garnishment action brought on behalf of Teague. Since my holding would resolve the underlying dispute, I need not address the Band's other claims of error.²

s 3. Teague commenced this action in the Ashland County Circuit Court against the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians (Band) for breach of employment contracts. While this action was pending, the Band brought a declaratory judgment action in tribal court seeking a declaration that the contracts were invalid. Although Teague participated in discovery and was given proper notice of the proceedings, he refused to participate further in the tribal court proceedings.³ On July 25, 1997, the tribal court held a hearing, reviewed the deposition transcripts and other discovery, which had been assembled in both cases, and granted the Band's motion for a default judgment. The Bad River Tribal Court found that both the 1993 and 1995 employment agreements between Teague and the Band were void. See Bad River Tribal Court Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Order for Default Judgment (R. 103:51-55).

s 4. Though both the circuit court and tribal court were aware of suits in the other court, each continued with its proceedings. The tribal court proceeded to a hearing on the breach of contract claims and was the first to grant judgment. The tribal court entered a default judgment against Teague.⁴ In the circuit court, Teague commenced a garnishment action after the circuit court had rendered its judgment awarding damages to Teague. The Band unsuccessfully asked the circuit court to dismiss the garnishment action. Teague v. Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians, 229 Wis. 2d 581, 599 N.W.2d 911 (Ct. App. 1999) (Teague I). The Band then appealed the circuit court's judgment awarding Teague damages for breach of contract and, with leave of the court of appeals, appealed the circuit court's refusal to dismiss the garnishment proceeding. The court of appeals reversed the judgment and order on the grounds that the circuit court was required to give full faith and credit to the tribal court's judgment under Wis. Stat. § 806.245. Id. The court of appeals did not reach other issues raised on appeal, because the finding regarding full faith and credit disposed of the case. Id. at 584 s 5. Pursuant to our comments in Teague II, and comments by the court of appeals, the circuit courts in the 10th Judicial Administrative District and the Chippewa tribal courts successfully drafted and agreed to protocols.⁵ It is important to note that at the time of the comity conference regarding jurisdiction, only the Draft Protocol was in existence. The Final Protocol had yet to be adopted. Although the Final Protocol retains much of the Draft Protocol, it specifies additional considerations in determining the allocation of jurisdiction (see Tribal/State Protocol for the Judicial Allocation of Jurisdiction Between the Four Chippewa Tribes of Northern Wisconsin and the Tenth Judicial District of Wisconsin, § 7, Bad River's Appendix 000225-000227 (2001)). More importantly, the Final Protocol contains a mechanism for resolving deadlocks, such as the deadlock that occurred at the comity conference between the circuit court and the tribal court in this case (see Final Protocol, § 6(c)).⁶ Finally, it is important to note that, at this time, the Final Protocol has application only to the tribes located within the 10th Judicial Administrative District. The Final Protocol does not apply to all tribes and circuit judges throughout the State of Wisconsin.

s 6. As noted above, on remand the circuit court and the tribal court were unable, at a jurisdictional allocation conference, to resolve the central conflict in this case. The circuit court denied the Band's motion under Wis. Stat. § 806.07 for relief from the judgment. Both the tribal court and the circuit court refused to withdraw their earlier judgments. The Band appealed the circuit court's decision to the court of appeals. The Court of Appeals, District III, certified this case to resolve the full faith and credit issue left undecided in Teague II.

I. FACTS

s 7. The relevant facts are not in dispute and were adequately set forth in detail in Teague II, 2000 WI 79, and are, therefore, set forth in a more summary fashion here.

s 8. The Band is a federally recognized Indian tribe, which possesses inherent powers of self-government over its members and its territory pursuant to the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 (IRA), 25 U.S.C. §§ 461-479 (1983). As a government, the Band is governed by two documents: the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians Constitution adopted under Section 16 of the IRA, and a corporate charter issued by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior pursuant to Section 17 of the IRA. See 25 U.S.C. §§ 476 & 477 (1983).

s 9. The Band operates a tribal enterprise, the Bad River Casino, on its reservation in accordance with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, 25 U.S.C. § 2701. Teague was hired in April 1993 to manage the casino. He served as the casino general manager from April 1993 to July 1995.

s 10. Teague's employment as gaming general manager was formalized in contracts drafted in 1993 and again in 1995. The 1993 contract was for a three-year employment period and was signed by the tribal chairperson, Donald Moore, Sr. The 1995 contract was signed by Teague and Moore's successor, then tribal chairperson Elizabeth Drake, and provided for an increase in severance and bonus benefits. While the tribal chair signed the 1995 contract, the tribal council failed to ratify this agreement. The Bureau of Indian Affairs did not approve either contract. Both contracts contained a clause that provided for disputes over termination of the agreement to be handled by arbitration, pursuant to Chapter 788 of the Wisconsin statutes.

s 11. In the summer of 1995 Teague left employment with the Band and filed a suit in circuit court to compel arbitration on the 1993 and 1995 documents.⁷ s 12. Teague commenced his action in the Ashland County Circuit Court, the Honorable Thomas J. Gallagher presiding, against the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians alleging breach of employment contracts. In September 1996 the Band made a motion to dismiss the case on sovereign immunity grounds, which the circuit court denied. Teague I. The circuit court determined that the arbitration clause in the documents along with the "sue or be sued" clause in the Band's corporate charter, waived the Band's sovereign immunity.⁸ The Band did not appeal this ruling. One month later, in October 1996, the Band amended its answer to include an affirmative defense, alleging that the employment agreements were invalid because they did not comply with the requirements of the Band's corporate charter.⁹ No objections were made to the Band's amended answer s 13. In December 1996, while the circuit court case was pending, the Band filed a complaint in the Bad River Tribal Court seeking a ruling on the validity of the 1995 agreement, but subsequently amended the complaint to include the 1993 agreement also. In January 1997 the Band sought a stay in the circuit court proceedings contending that the validity of the contracts raised fundamental questions of tribal law. The Band claimed that notions of comity and the tribal exhaustion doctrine necessitated that the Band have the first opportunity to resolve the matter.¹⁰ The circuit court denied the Band's motion for a stay in February 1997 s 14. In March 1997 the Band filed a second amended complaint, which addressed the formation of the agreements, as well as the actual and...