Alltel Communications, LLC v. Oglala Sioux Tribe, et al., No. 11-1520 (8th Cir. 2012)
Annotate this CaseThis case arose when Alltel sued a former senior vice president in the Eastern District of Arkansas, alleging that the vice president breached the terms of a Separation Agreement by, inter alia, assisting the Oglala Sioux Tribe in a tribal court lawsuit to enjoin Alltel from a proposed sale of assets that provided telecommunications services on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. At issue was whether tribal immunity barred enforcement of the subpoenas at issue. The court agreed with the Tribe that a third-party subpoena in private civil litigation was a "suit" for purposes of the Tribe's common law sovereign immunity. As that immunity had not been waived or abrogated, the court reversed.
Court Description: Civil case - Indian law. In an action between Alltel and a former employee in which Alltel attempted to subpoena Tribe records which might establish a connection between the Tribe and the employee, the third-party subpoena was a suit that was subject to Indian tribe immunity, and the district court erred in denying the Tribe's motion to quash the subpoena.
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