United States Ninth Circuit

In an action brought by an Indian tribe member employed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) challenging the denial of increased retirement benefits payable to employees whose duties included firefighting, summary judgment for the BIA is affirmed where: 1) the government did not waive the time limit of 5 C.F.R. section 831.906(e) by failing to provide actual notice of the new time limit for filing to current employees; 2) the federal government's trust responsibility toward Indian tribes imposes no special notice obligation beyond that enunciated in the aforementioned rule; 3) the Indian Preference Act does not apply, and the regular provisions of the Civil Service Regulations govern plaintiff as they do any other employee; and 4) summary judgment on a disparate impact claim was proper.

Appellate Information

• Argued 11/07/2007
• Decided 05/13/2008
• Published 05/13/2008

Judges

• CANBY, Circuit Judge:, Before:  WILLIAM C. CANBY, JR., SUSAN P. GRABER, and RONALD M. GOULD, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Richard B. Price, Omak, WA, for the appellant.


• For Appellees:
  
• Andrew S. Biviano, Assistant United States Attorney, Spokane, WA, for the appellees.