Bodi v. Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians

This appeal requires us to decide whether a federally recognized Indian tribe waives its sovereign immunity from suit by exercising its right to remove to federal court a case filed against it in state court. This question has divided the district courts, and it has been reached by only one of our sister circuits, which held that removal does not, standing alone, waive tribal immunity. See Contour Spa at the Hard Rock, Inc. v. Seminole Tribe of Fla., 692 F.3d 1200, 1206-08 (11th Cir. 2012). We now follow the lead of the Eleventh Circuit and hold that the act of removal does not express the clear and unequivocal waiver that is required for a tribe to relinquish its immunity from suit. Because the district court held otherwise, we reverse.

I.

The Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians (the “Tribe”) is a federally-recognized Indian tribe located on the Shingle Springs Ranchería in California. Since about 1995, the Tribe has owned and operated a full-service health clinic. The clinic operates under the name Shingle Springs Tribal Health Program (the “Health Program”) and is run by the Shingle Springs Tribal Health Board (the “Health Board”), whose nine directors are all…