Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani San Diego Senior Counsel Casey Shaw, Senior Counsel Allison Jones, and Partner Kevin Alexander prevailed in concurrent motions to strike and dismiss, respectively in California and federal courts, concluding a decade-old legal saga against tribal officials that tested undecided legal issues of individual tribal immunities.
In 2018, a gaming software owner filed wrongful use of civil proceedings, breach of fiduciary duty, and constructive fraud claims in Sacramento County Superior Court against various tribal officials, executives, attorneys, judges, clerks, and court staff over an alleged corrupt judicial scheme to issue favorable tribal court decisions. In 2019, the plaintiff filed a related Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations ("RICO") action against the same defendants in United States District Court, District of Northern California.
Initial litigation tested the limits of derivative sovereign immunity, resulting in published appellate decisions (Acres Bonusing, Inc. v. Marston, et al. (9th Cir. 2021) 17 F.4th 901; Acres v. Marston (2021) 72 Cal.App.5th 417.). Following remand, the Gordon & Rees team filed a dual demurrer and Anti-SLAPP motion to strike in the state court action, arguing that administering and operating a tribal court system is protected activity under Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16. It concurrently moved to dismiss the RICO claim in the federal case, arguing that the individual defendants were immune from liability in their roles as tribal executives acting in their official capacities and that litigation activity is generally not a predicate act for a civil RICO claim. Both motions were granted and affirmed on appeal.
The district court order expressly adjudicated novel legal issues regarding the extent which tribal officials are shielded by qualified immunity and discretionary act immunity under California and federal law when acting within their official capacities.
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