Judge Adds 55 Groups to $940M Gov’t Tribal Contracts Settlement

Last week, a federal judge in New Mexico ruled that an additional 55 groups be added to over 600 Native American tribes to be eligible to receive a share in the $940 million settlement that was recently reached with the U.S. government over alleged unfulfilled payment responsibilities in tribal contracts.

The United South and Eastern Tribes Inc. (USET) requested to be included as plaintiffs in the lawsuit, explaining that their group and 54 other groups also met the terms for inclusion to be covered under the settlement. This follows decades-long litigation over claims that the government did not fully fund administrative costs that were owed to the tribes.

The settlement agreement initially proposed in September outlined that the government agreed to pay a total of $940 million to resolve claims in a class action alleging that the government did not fully fund tribes’ contract support costs for nearly two decades, from 1994 and 2014. The claims alleged this behavior by the government was in violation of the Contract Disputes Act and the Indian Self-Determination Act.

The claims indicated that insufficient funding was provided for program services that the government contracted with various tribes and tribal agencies to provide including law enforcement, fire suppression, forest management, federal education programs, road maintenance and housing.

On Wednesday, the day before the judge’s order for inclusion, both the government and plaintiffs filed a joint memorandum stating that both sides erroneously excluded the 55 groups and requested to have them added to the group of plaintiffs so they would be entitled to a portion of the settlement. The judge held a telephone conference the following day with counsel representing the plaintiffs, the government and USET.

At the conclusion of the meeting, it was agreed by all involved that USET was eligible to be included in the settlement, and USET argued that they should be awarded the settlement based on 13 years of payments. The government and plaintiffs, however, said that government records indicated USET only received 10 years of payments. The judge sided with the government and plaintiffs, requiring that the payment distribution be calculated on 10 years of payments.

In the initial determination for inclusion for the settlement group, the parties relied of records from the Bureau of Indian Affairs that showed which tribes received contract support cost payments throughout the duration of the years indicated in the lawsuit. As a result of the process, over 600 groups were identified to initially be included.

After USET spoke up and requested to be included in the settlement, the parties reevaluated their inclusion criteria and discovered that USET received other funding as part of the Indian Self-Determination Act and was therefore eligible for the current group payout. A total of 55 groups met the new criteria. The judge made a swift decision in decided to approve the request for USET’s inclusion that same day.

The tribes are represented by Michael P. Gross of M.P. Gross Law Firm PC, co-class counsel C. Bryant Rogers of Vanamberg Rogers Yepa Abeita Gomez & Works LLP, and co-class counsel Lloyd B. Miller of Sonosky Chambers Sachse Miller & Munson LLP.

The Native American Tribal Contract Class Action Lawsuit is Ramah Navajo Chapter, et al. v. Jewell, et al., Case No. 1:90-cv-00957, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico.