Two Shields v. Wilkinson., No. 13-3773 (8th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseShields and Wilson are Indians with interests on the Bakken Oil Shale Formation in the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota, allotted to them under the Dawes Act of 1887. Such land is held in trust by the government, but may be leased by allottees. Shields and Wilson leased oil and gas mining rights on their allotments to companies and affiliated individuals who won a sealed bid auction conducted by the Board of Indian Affairs in 2007. After the auction, the women agreed to terms with the winning bidders, the BIA approved the leases, and the winning bidders sold them for a large profit. Shields and Wilson filed a putative class action, claiming that the government had breached its fiduciary duty by approving the leases for the oil and gas mining rights, and that the bidders aided, abetted, and induced the government to breach that duty. The district court concluded that the United States was a required party which could not be joined, but without which the action could not proceed in equity and good conscience, and dismissed. The Eighth Circuit affirmed. The United States enjoys sovereign immunity for the claims and can decide itself when and where it wants to intervene.
Court Description: Murphy, Author, with Smith and Gruender, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Indian law. In putative class action alleging the U.S. breached its fiduciary duty by approving leases for oil and gas mining rights and that the defendant bidders aided, abetted and induced the U.S. to breach that duty, the district court did not err in determining the U.S. is a required party which should be joined if feasible under Fed. R. Civ. P. 19(a); since the U.S. has not waived its sovereign immunity, it cannot be joined, and the district court did not err in dismissing the case under Rule 19(b).
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