Quechan Indian Tribe v. United States Department of Labor

Quechan Indian Tribe (Quechan) petitions for review of a final order by the Secretary of Labor requiring repayment of $197,452 in CETA grant funds, due to Quechan’s failure to comply with CETA regulations. We remand.

BACKGROUND

Quechan, as a prime sponsor under the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973 (CETA), received three grants to carry out CETA programs under Titles II, III and IV of the Act. The grants, totalling $245,380, were paid between December 1974 and April 1976.

The Department of Labor (DOL), on February 11,1976, notified Quechan that it was in violation of CETA regulations, because it had failed to submit required reports over a fifteen-month period for the three CETA grants. DOL requested that Quechan submit these reports. Despite numerous meetings between DOL officials and Quechan, no reports were received by DOL.

An audit of Quechan’s grant expenditures was begun in January 1976 by independent accountants retained by DOL. Many expenditures were questioned by the auditors because of, inter alia, lack of proof of the participants’ eligibility to receive CETA funds. The auditors found that the records of the third grant were unauditable, and that the…