Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement & Power District v. Lee

Two non-Indian entities brought this action to enjoin Navajo Nation tribal officials from applying tribal law to them in tribal courts. They claim that both their contract with the tribe and federal law deprive tribal officials of authority to regulate them. This appeal presents the question whether the Navajo Nation itself — which enjoys sovereign immunity and cannot be sued — is a necessary (and if so, indispensable) party under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 19. We hold today that the tribe is not a necessary party because the tribal officials can be expected to adequately represent the tribe’s interests in this action and because complete relief can be accorded among the existing parties without the tribe. This lawsuit for prospective injunctive relief may proceed against the officials under a routine application of Ex parte Young, 209 U.S. 123 , 28 S.Ct. 441 , 52 L.Ed. 714 (1908), and should not have been dismissed.

I. BACKGROUND

Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District co-owns a power plant called the Navajo Generating Station on Navajo reservation land in northern Arizona. Headwater Resources, Inc. is a contractor employed by Salt River…