Connecticut
The union battle at Foxwoods has once again spilled into the courtroom, with the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation arguing 10 of its initial 12 objections to the November 2007 election during which 1,289 of 2,141 dealers voted to join the United Auto Workers union (UAW). Taking place in Hartford before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the formal hearings may be one of the tribe’s last avenues through which to appeal the election. The tribe’s objections that neither the NLRB nor the National Labor Relations Act held jurisdiction over its casino were dismissed by the NLRB prior to the hearings, on the precedent of San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino v. NLRB. The tribe was permitted to pursue complaints ranging from non-multilingual ballots to UAW representatives allegedly bullying dealers before the election and otherwise engaging in misconduct. As of CEM’s press time, the tribe was planning to call on several of its employees to testify in support of these claims. If the tribe successfully proves that the election process was not carried out properly, the NLRB will deem the election invalid and a new one will be scheduled. If not, the tribe may be forced into union contract negotiations — and into becoming a precedent-setter when it comes to unionization for the rest of Indian Country.
Kansas
Three years after the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma’s Kansas City casino was shut down by then-Attorney General Phill Kline, the tribe is back in business. It held the grand opening for its 7th Street Casino in January. Housed in a historic Scottish Rite Temple building downtown, the casino’s $21 million renovation boasts a 20,000-square-foot gaming floor with 420 Class II machines, several restaurants and bars, and a high-limit penthouse for VIPs.
In 2004, Kline, had jumped onboard a pre-existing state lawsuit that claimed the tribe’s casino land hadn’t been properly taken into trust. He authorized a raid that resulted in the seizure of the tribe’s gaming equipment and ultimately the shutdown of its casino. A federal court of appeals, however, recently dismissed the original suit — 11 years after it was filed.
The tribe also seems to be on solid ground with local government, reaching a revenue and services agreement with the city in October 2007. Local police, fire and medical personnel will respond to the casino when needed, and casino patrons will be able to use a nearby city parking garage, in exchange for an annual cut of incoming cash up to $30 million — 3 percent of the first $10 million in revenues; 1 percent of the next $10 million; and 0.3 percent of the next $10 million.
New York
Joined at a press conference by the Seneca Nation of Indians’ President Maurice A. John Sr. in January, Erie County Executive Chris Collins revealed that he is removing the county as a party to the two ongoing lawsuits in federal court aimed at stopping the development of the permanent Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino project.
“Erie County cannot turn its back on an over $300 million construction project and private investment in the city of Buffalo,” Collins said. “This project does offer a considerable opportunity to redevelop the Cobblestone District and attract visitors to downtown.”
Scheduled to open in 2010, the $333 million permanent Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino project will feature a 90,000-square-foot casino and a 22-story all-suite hotel designed to five-star specifications. The casino portion is expected to be complete in the spring of 2010, with the hotel opening approximately three months later.
“The county executive’s decision shows that he personally understands the importance of economic development and the role that our planned $333 million project, with its 1,000 jobs, can play in the rebirth of the regional economy,” John added. “County Executive Collins has chosen not to stand in the way of progress and development, but to embrace it.”
In January, the Bureau of Indian Affairs announced new standards for determining which off-reservation lands may be taken into trust for gaming purposes, saying it comes down to “commutability.” The new guidelines are already proving detrimental, with the rejection of the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe’s nine-year-old trust application for a casino site in the Catskill Mountains arriving just a day after the announcement. The tribe had planned to build a $600 million casino resort on approximately 30 acres in Monticello, which is within driving distance of New York City, but is 350 miles from the tribe’s existing reservation. The Department of the Interior argues that reservation life would suffer if gaming properties were built so far away, leaving tribal members unable to take advantage of a casino’s job opportunities or other economic boosts without relocating. The department had previously found, in 2000, that building a casino in Monticello would benefit the tribe, and it signed off on an environmental impact study in 2006. The local and state governments were also on board with the project. The St. Regis Mohawk plan to both appeal this application denial, as well as join several other tribes in calling for a congressional oversight hearing into “injustices” at the Department of the Interior. Ten other tribes’ land trust applications were denied on the same day as the St. Regis Mohawk’s.
Wisconsin
A lawsuit between the Ho-Chunk Nation and the state has been booted back down to a lower court from the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. At issue is $72 million that the state says it is owed under a 2003 compact that allowed the Ho-Chunk to expand both the number and scope of its gaming devices in exchange for up to $30 million per year in shared revenue. The tribe, however, says that because the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that Gov. Jim Doyle didn’t have the authority to sign Tribal-State Compacts (during a 2004 lawsuit in relation to the Forest County Potawatomi tribe’s compact), it doesn’t have to pay. The state sued the tribe in 2005, and the case has already bounced between district and appeals courts twice. Binding arbitration is a possibility with this latest ruling.