Unincorporated Business Owned Wholly By The Choctaw Nation Was Exempted From Being An "Employer" Under Title VII

Heather and Mark Thomas, husband and wife, brought claims against their employer Choctaw Management/Services Enterprise (CM/SE) for alleged religion and pregnancy discrimination in violation of Title VII.

CM/SE is an unincorporated business venture owned 100% by the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, an Indian tribe that is recognized as such by, and has a treaty with, the United States. The district court dismissed the Thomases action on the ground that CM/SE is an "Indian Tribe" expressly exempted from being an "employer" under Title VII. On appeal, the 5th Circuit affirmed:

Title VII states unequivocally that the term "employer" does not include, inter alia, an Indian tribe. The Thomases have artfully pled that CM/SE is a separate legal entity, a corporation organized and owned by the Choctaw nation, but have failed to substantiate that contention with any specific allegations. In seeking dismissal, CM/SE [has] shown, in contrast, that CM/SE is not a corporation at all but is a sole proprietorship of the Choctaw Nation. Under situations like this, we are constrained to parse a plaintiff's complaint; and when we do so here we find that there is no question of fact (and no doubt) that CM/SE is not a corporation at all and is, in fact, a direct proprietary enterprise of the Choctaw Nation, from which it is legally inseparable. As such, the Thomases' Title VII claims are wholly without merit and thus legally frivolous.

As this case presents an issue of first impression in our circuit, we take this opportunity to adopt the position espoused by the Eighth Circuit in Dille v. Council of Energy Resource Tribes and by the Ninth Circuit in Pink v. Modoc Indian Health Project: Title VII's express exemption of Indian tribes from employer status eschews subject matter jurisdiction of the federal courts to hear employment discrimination complaints such as those advanced by the Thomases in this case when brought against unincorporated commercial enterprises entirely owned and operated by recognized Indian tribes. As the factors considered in those appellate cases are present and applicable here, the district court's dismissal of the instant suit was wholly appropriate. In contrast, the cases cited by the Thomases, addressing such matters as employers that are separate, incorporated entities under the Indian Reorganization Act, partially owned companies incorporated under state law, and non-Indian companies employing non-Indians while operating on an Indian reservation, are distinguishable and inapposite.

Thomas v. Choctaw Management

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The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals' jurisdiction includes Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi.

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