Teressa Mestek v. Lac Courte Oreilles Community Health Center

In the
United States Court of Appeals
For the Seventh Circuit
____________________
No. 22-2077
TERESSA MESTEK,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
LAC COURTE OREILLES COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER, et al.,
Defendants-Appellees.
____________________
Appeal from the United States District Court for the
Western District of Wisconsin.
No. 21-cv-541 — William M. Conley, Judge.
____________________
ARGUED MARCH 27, 2023 — DECIDED JUNE 29, 2023
____________________
Before HAMILTON, SCUDDER, and PRYOR, Circuit Judges.
SCUDDER, Circuit Judge. Teressa Mestek invoked the False
Claims Act’s anti-retaliation provision and sued the Commu-
nity Health Center of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake
Superior Chippewa Indians as well as several individuals af-
filiated with the Health Center. She contends that the Health
Center fired her because she flagged irregularities in the
Health Center’s billing practices that she believed reflected
fraud. The district court granted the defendants’ motion to
2 No. 22-2077
dismiss, concluding that the doctrine of tribal sovereign im-
munity precluded Mestek from proceeding with her claims.
We agree and affirm. Although Mestek has not sued the Tribe
itself, the Health Center is an arm of the Tribe and therefore
entitled to avail itself of the Tribe’s sovereign immunity. And
the handful of individual employee defendants also properly
invoked the Tribe’s immunity because Mestek sued them in
their official capacities.
I
A
We accept all well-pleaded facts as true and credit all plau-
sible inferences in Mestek’s favor. The Lac Courte Oreilles
Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians is a federally recog-
nized tribe in northwestern Wisconsin. In 2013 the Tribe’s
Community Health Center hired Teressa Mestek, a former
employee, to serve as the Director of Health Information. A
few years later in 2017 the Health Center implemented a new
electronic health records system. Mestek soon raised ques-
tions about how the new system operated, including by ex-
pressing concern to management that the Health Center was
improperly billing Medicare and Medicaid. These events
eventually led to an external audit of the Health Center’s bill-
ing practices, which uncovered a number of problems.
After receiving the audit results in July 2018, Jacqueline
Bae, the Health Director and head of the Health Center, called
Mestek into her office to ask if she was “loyal.” Mestek an-
swered yes, but then persisted in her efforts to uncover billing
irregularities. A month later, on August 24, Mestek learned
that she was being fired in a meeting with Dr. Shannon Starr
(the Medical Director) and Sarah Klecan (the HR Director).
No. 22-2077 3
Mestek later learned that Dr. Starr made the termination de-
cision and had signed the termination letter over Bae’s typed
name.
Convinced she had been fired because she blew the whis-
tle on billing fraud, Mestek sued the Health Center and six
individuals—five Health Center employees named in both
their personal and official capacities, as well as an independ-
ent contractor—in federal court. Her complaint lodged claims
under the False Claims Act’s anti-retaliation provision, 31
U.S.C. § 3730(h), and Wisconsin law.
B
The district court granted the defendants’ motion to dis-
miss for failure to state a claim. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6).
The district court began by both rejecting Mestek’s contention
that the False Claims Act’s anti-retaliation provision abro-
gated tribal sovereign immunity and acknowledging that the
defendants had not waived immunity. The district court did
not see any language in the anti-retaliation provision even
hinting that Congress intended to strip away tribal immunity.
But, the district court continued, Mestek had not named the
Tribe itself as a defendant. This raised the question whether
the defendants she had named—the Health Center, five of its
employees, and one of its independent contractors—could
avail themselves of the Tribe’s protections.
The district court answered yes. Tribal sovereign immun-
ity extended to the Health Center because it was an arm of the
Tribe. And Mestek’s claims against the individual employees
amounted to official-capacity actions that would, in effect,
run against the Tribe. Finally, with every federal claim dis-
missed, the district court declined to exercise supplemental
4 No. 22-2077
jurisdiction over Mestek’s state-law claim against Michael
Popp, an independent contractor.
Mestek now appeals, urging us to reject the district court’s
application of tribal sovereign immunity.
II
The doctrine of tribal sovereign immunity is a core feature
of Indian self-governance. It derives from tribes’ status as
“separate sovereigns pre-existing the Constitution” and the
“common-law immunity from suit traditionally enjoyed by
sovereign powers.” Michigan v. Bay Mills Indian Cmty., 572
U.S. 782, 788 (2014) (quoting Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez, 436
U.S. 49, 56, 58 (1978)); see also Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort
Berthold Rsrv. v. Wold Eng’g, P.C., 476 U.S. 877, 890 (1986) (ex-
plaining that “common law sovereign immunity possessed
by the Tribe is a necessary corollary to Indian sovereignty”).
From a practical standpoint, unless the Tribe waives this pro-
tection, the immunity protects the Tribe from both suit and
liability.
Congress, however, can abrogate a tribe’s immunity by
authorizing plaintiffs to sue a tribe for violations of federal
law. This power to abrogate stems from Congress’s plenary
control over tribes as “domestic dependent nations.” Bay
Mills, 572 U.S. at 803 (quoting Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, 30
U.S. (5 Pet.) 1, 17 (1831)). But the authorization must be crystal
clear. See Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indi-
ans v. Coughlin, 143 S. Ct. 1689, 1695 (2023) (“This clear-state-
ment rule is a demanding standard.”). We have cautioned
that “Congress’ words must fit like a glove in their unequiv-
ocality,” and so we have held that “[a]ny ambiguity must be
interpreted in favor of [sovereign] immunity.” Meyers v.
No. 22-2077 5
Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin, 836 F.3d 818, 827 (7th Cir.
2016). Indeed, “courts will not lightly assume that Congress
in fact intends to undermine Indian self-government.” Bay
Mills, 572 U.S. at 790. It is a tall order for a court to conclude
that Congress abrogated tribal sovereign immunity.
Mestek’s lawsuit runs headfirst into this immunity back-
drop. She insists that Congress abrogated tribal sovereign im-
munity in the False Claim Act’s anti-retaliation provision. In
the alternative, she contends that the defendants she sued—
the Health Center and its individual employees—cannot in-
voke the Tribe’s immunity. We take these questions up in turn
without any deference to the district court’s conclusions. See
Meyers, 836 F.3d at 824.
A
The False Claims Act’s anti-retaliation prohibition pro-
vides:
Any employee, contractor, or agent shall be en-
titled to all relief necessary to make that em-
ployee, contractor, or agent whole, if that em-
ployee, contractor, or agent is discharged, de-
moted, suspended, threatened, harassed, or in
any other manner discriminated against in the
terms and conditions of employment because of
lawful acts done by the employee, contractor,
agent or associated others in furtherance of an
action under this section or other efforts to stop
1 or more violations of this subchapter.
31 U.S.C. § 3730(h)(1).
6 No. 22-2077
Like the district court, we see no indication that Congress
intended to abrogate tribal sovereign immunity in this anti-
retaliation provision. Notice the actors that Congress named
in § 3730(h)(1): “employee, contractor, or agent.” Nowhere
did Congress explicitly reference “Indians” or “tribes.” See,
e.g., Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma v. Mfg. Techs., Inc., 523 U.S. 751,
758–59 (1998) (listing examples of abrogation and non-abro-
gation). Nor is this a statute where Congress attempted to
“cover[ ] the waterfront” of governmental units by using
catch-all language. Coughlin, 143 S. Ct. at 1695, 1700 n.7 (find-
ing that Congress abrogated tribal sovereign immunity in cer-
tain portions of the Bankruptcy Code by using a catch-all ab-
rogation provision covering the “United States; State; Com-
monwealth; District; Territory; municipality; foreign state; de-
partment, agency, or instrumentality of the United States (but
not a United States trustee while serving as a trustee in a case
under this title), a State, a Commonwealth, a District, a Terri-
tory, a municipality, or a foreign state; or other foreign or do-
mestic government” (quoting 11 U.S.C. § 101(27))). To our
eye, abrogation is not a close call in the False Claims Act’s
anti-retaliation provision.
But recall that Mestek did not name the Lac Courte Oreil-
les Band itself as a defendant. She instead sued the Health
Center and five individual employees (as well as an inde-
pendent contractor). These tribal-affiliated defendants never-
theless contend that they are so affiliated with and a part of
the Tribe to be tantamount to the Tribe, thereby allowing
them to invoke sovereign immunity’s protection from suit
too.
No. 22-2077 7
B
Take the Health Center first. We agree with the district
court’s well-reasoned analysis. And in doing so, we follow the
lead of the parties before us—and every other circuit to have
considered the issue—in adopting the “arm of the tribe” test.
The test provides an analytical tool for assessing what en-
tities can avail themselves of a tribe’s sovereign immunity.
The overarching inquiry is straightforward: we must deter-
mine whether the tribal-affiliated entity is acting in a tribal
capacity by exercising a tribe’s commercial or economic
power. See Bay Mills, 572 U.S. at 790 (discussing how tribal
sovereign immunity extends to “a tribe’s commercial activi-
ties, even when they take place off Indian lands”).
This extension of sovereign immunity beyond a tribe itself
makes sound policy sense. Immunity furthers tribal self-gov-
ernance by limiting the extent to which courts can interfere in
a tribe’s commercial matters. See Kiowa Tribe, 523 U.S. at 757
(explaining how the doctrine “promote[s] economic develop-
ment and tribal self-sufficiency”); see also Coughlin, 143 S. Ct.
at 1705 (Gorsuch, J., dissenting) (“[T]he choice to abrogate
tribal immunity is fundamentally political in nature.”).
In joining our fellow circuits, we similarly conclude that
determining whether an entity is acting as an arm of the tribe
requires consideration of the following factors:
• the method of creation of the economic entity;
• its purpose;
• the structure, ownership, and management, including
the amount of control the tribe has over the entity;
8 No. 22-2077
• the tribe’s intent with respect to the sharing of its sov-
ereign immunity; and
• the financial relationship between the tribe and the en-
tity.
See, e.g., Williams v. Big Picture Loans, LLC, 929 F.3d 170, 177
(4th Cir. 2019); White v. Univ. of California, 765 F.3d 1010, 1025
(9th Cir. 2014); Breakthrough Mgmt. Grp., Inc. v. Chukchansi
Gold Casino & Resort, 629 F.3d 1173, 1187 (10th Cir. 2010).
These interrelated factors permit examination of the en-
tity’s background, business purpose, and operations to ascer-
tain whether it is truly a tribal enterprise—an analysis that
furthers the foundational principles of tribal sovereign im-
munity. See Cohen’s Handbook of Federal Indian Law
§ 7.05[1][a] (2019) (examining how the arm of the tribe test ad-
vances and fits within considerations of tribal sovereign im-
munity). To be sure, though, these factors do not amount to a
scorekeeping exercise. In some cases one factor might weigh
more heavily than others, and in other cases a different factor
might rise in importance. The arm of the tribe test supplies a
qualitative, holistic framework for analyzing the entity in
question and its relationship to a tribe.
C
We consider each of these factors in connection with the
Health Center next, though we must first resolve a prelimi-
nary procedural issue. Much of our analysis relies upon the
Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Code of Law, which the defendants
attached to their motion to dismiss because it contains provi-
sions bearing on the relationship between the Health Center
and the Tribe. We agree with the district court that the Tribal
Code of Law is subject to judicial notice. See Tellabs, Inc. v.
No. 22-2077 9
Makor Issues & Rights, Ltd., 551 U.S. 308, 322 (2007). It is an
official governance document, like a state constitution or mu-
nicipal charter, that does not contain facts “subject to reason-
able dispute.” Ennenga v. Starns, 677 F.3d 766, 773–74 (7th Cir.
2012). The district court committed no error in considering the
Code in ruling on the defendants’ motion to dismiss. And
with the benefit of the Code, we can see that most of the fac-
tors favor the Tribe.
First, the Tribal Code of Law states that the Health Center
“is a public body established as a subordinate entity of the
Tribe.” Other provisions of the Code further confirm that the
Health Center’s key structural documents—its personnel pol-
icy and procedural manual—were established “pursuant to
the inherent authority of the [Tribe].” That these governance
documents emerged through an exercise of tribal authority
cuts in favor of the Health Center operating as an arm of the
Tribe.
Second, the Tribal Code of Law also supplies insight into
our analysis of the Health Center’s purpose by defining the
Health Center’s mission statement in the same chapter as the
personnel policies and procedures. The Health Center’s mis-
sion is “to provide confidential quality family orientated
healthcare in an environment that is respectful and fosters in-
novation utilizing available resource[s] to maximize services
to improve the overall health of the Tribal community.” The
clear nexus between the Health Center and the Tribe’s health
and welfare also favors recognizing tribal sovereign immun-
ity.
Third, as for the structure, ownership, and management of
the Health Center, including the amount of control the Tribe
has over the Center, the Tribal Code of Law must give way to
10 No. 22-2077
the well-pleaded facts in Mestek’s complaint. No doubt the
official governance structure indicates that the Tribe ulti-
mately controls the Health Center: the Tribal Code of Law
specifies that the Health Director “oversee[s] all matters relat-
ing to program requirements including daily operations” of
the Health Center, and the Health Director reports directly to
the Tribal Governing Board, including on all employment de-
cisions. But Mestek alleges that, notwithstanding this struc-
ture, Health Director Jaqueline Bae was not actually account-
able to the Tribe. Indeed, Mestek expressly alleged that Dr.
Starr, the Health Center’s Medical Director—not the Tribal
Governing Board—authorized her termination. Crediting this
allegation, as we must at the motion to dismiss stage, we find
that this purported lack of tribal control cuts against a conclu-
sion that the Health Center acted as an arm of the Tribe.
Fourth, the Tribe plainly intended to confer its sovereign
immunity on the Health Center. In a provision entitled “Sov-
ereignty,” the Tribal Code of Law states that “no private law-
suit can be maintained against the Tribe or any of its subordi-
nate entities such as the LCO-CHC [the Health Center], unless
the Tribe consents to the action.” This specific reference to the
Health Center leaves little doubt that the Tribe intended for
its immunity to extend to the Health Center.
Fifth and finally, the financial relationship between the
Tribe and the Health Center is inconclusive. Neither the com-
plaint nor official governance documents paint a clear picture
of the financial ties between the Health Center and the Tribe.
Considered in their totality, these factors tip in support of
the conclusion that the Health Center is an arm of the Tribe.
The many explicit and implicit references to the Health Cen-
ter’s status as a subordinate entity to the Tribe outweigh the
No. 22-2077 11
lone dispute over how much control the Tribal Governing
Board exercised over the Health Center’s employment mat-
ters. It would undermine the foundational principles of tribal
sovereign immunity if a single employee’s decision to act be-
yond her authority could outweigh significant additional ev-
idence pointing in favor of the entity operating as a tribal en-
tity. In sum, the first, second, and fourth factors all point to a
common understanding: that the Health Center furthers the
self-sufficiency and self-governance of the Lac Courte Oreilles
Band.
The district court properly dismissed Mestek’s claim
against the Health Center based on tribal sovereign immunity
since this claim is tantamount to suing the Tribe itself.
D
We close by addressing the six individual defendants, five
of whom served as Health Center employees: Louis Taylor,
Jacqueline Bae, Shannon Starr, Sarah Klecan, and David
Franz. Recall, too, that Mestek sued these five defendants in
both their personal and official capacities. The district court
concluded that despite the formal allegations in Mestek’s
complaint, her claims implicated only these defendants’ offi-
cial capacities because the relief she requested would effec-
tively run against the Tribe—meaning sovereign immunity
applied. We agree.
The Supreme Court has provided guidance on how to ap-
proach this personal- versus official-capacity distinction.
“[C]ourts may not simply rely on the characterization of the
parties in the complaint, but rather must determine in the first
instance whether the remedy sought is truly against the sov-
ereign.” Lewis v. Clarke, 581 U.S. 155, 162 (2017). That
12 No. 22-2077
determination requires us to ask whether “the relief sought is
only nominally against the official and in fact is against the
official’s office,” in which case the claim is against the defend-
ant in her official capacity. Id. Put another way, a suit is
against an individual in her personal capacity when the relief
“will not require action by the sovereign or disturb the sover-
eign’s property.” Id. at 163 (quoting Larson v. Domestic & For-
eign Com. Corp., 337 U.S. 682, 687 (1949)).
These principles find straightforward application here
and show why Mestek’s claims are against the employee de-
fendants only in their official capacities. In her complaint,
Mestek requested front pay, back pay, damages, reinstate-
ment, and injunctive relief prohibiting the defendants from
blacklisting or retaliating against her. Critically, however, any
monetary relief would come from the Health Center’s coffers.
And reinstatement, as well, would likewise require action on
the part of the Health Center, not the individual defendants.
To the extent that Mestek contends that the district court
could have entered injunctive relief preventing the individual
defendants from blacklisting her without requiring the
Health Center to act, she has forfeited that contention. She did
not raise it below for the district court to consider in the first
instance, and she has not identified any reason for us to label
this as plain error. See Hacker v. Dart, 62 F.4th 1073, 1080 (7th
Cir. 2023). Because Mestek has, in effect, sued the five employ-
ees in their official capacities, tribal sovereign immunity bars
her claims against them. See Lewis, 581 U.S. at 163.
That leaves Michael Popp, the independent contractor
who Mestek sued under Wisconsin law alone. As with every
other facet of this case, the district court exercised its sound
No. 22-2077 13
discretion in declining to exercise supplemental jurisdiction
over him when no other federal claim could proceed.
For these reasons, we AFFIRM.