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Bradley v. Crow Tribe of Indians12/9/2005
Submitted on Briefs: January 11, 2005
The Crow Tribe of Indians (Tribe) appeals from a November 12, 2003, judgment filed in the District Court for Yellowstone County. The judgment is based on an order of the District Court which reinstated a prior judgment of February 15, 2002, which granted summary judgment to Bradley's predecessor personal representative, Sarah Bradley. The current personal representative is Raymond John Bradley, and both the predecessor and current personal representative are referred to as "Bradley." We reverse and remand for further proceedings.
We restate the issue on appeal as follows:
Did the District Court err when it reinstated the February 15, 2002, Judgment in favor of Bradley?
I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
Most of the facts of this already protracted litigation are stated in Bradley v. Crow Tribe of Indians, 2003 MT 82, 315 Mont. 75, 67 P.3d 306, (Bradley I). Those facts stated in Bradley I that are relevant to this appeal are summarized as follows:
Bradley sued the Tribe alleging it breached an employment contract with him and failed to pay him as provided by contract. The Tribe moved to dismiss the action on grounds that the District Court lacked personal and subject matter jurisdiction due to the Tribe's sovereign immunity. The District Court denied the Tribe's motion to dismiss, concluding that applicable law permitted Indian tribes to be sued in state courts for causes of action arising from "commercial activities" carried on in the United States, and that the alleged contract provision was a waiver of the Tribe's sovereign immunity. However, the District Court reserved the right to readdress the issue of subject matter jurisdiction.
Later, Bradley moved for summary judgment. The Tribe failed to respond to Bradley's motion, and for this reason the District Court granted Bradley's motion on February 5, 2002, and entered judgment in his favor on February 15, 2002, in the amount of $113,972.79.
On March 12, 2002, the Tribe moved to either alter or amend the February 15, 2002, judgment under Rule 59(g), M.R.Civ.P., or in the alternative to set aside the judgment under Rule 60(b), M.R.Civ.P. The tribe said that its prior counsel had failed to notify the Tribe of Bradley's motion for summary judgment and, as a result, the Tribe had not filed a timely brief in opposition to the motion. The Tribe also argued that the District Court should set aside the judgment because the District Court's order on which it was based addressed sovereign immunity and whether the District Court had the subject matter jurisdiction to enforce the terms of the alleged contract. This motion was timely under Rule 60(b), M.R.Civ.P.
The District Court ordered a hearing on the Tribe's motion to set aside the judgment of February 15, 2002, and 87 days after the motion was filed, on June 7, 2002, granted relief under Rule 60(b), M.R.Civ.P., in favor of the Tribe, dismissing the lawsuit in its entirety. Bradley appealed, resulting in the decision in Bradley I.
In Bradley I, this Court addressed and decided the issue of whether the District Court erred when it dismissed Bradley's claim because the Tribe had not unequivocally waived its immunity from suit in state court. The Court concluded the District Court did err when it dismissed Bradley's complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and determined that the undisputed evidence established two things: (a) a valid contract existed between Bradley and the Tribe; and (b) in such contract, the Tribe unequivocally waived its right to sovereign immunity. Bradley I, 22. Accordingly, the District Court's or
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