## Facts

- Harold Dawavendewa, a member of the Hopi Tribe, applied for an operator trainee position at the Navajo Generating Station (NGS) in Arizona.
- Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District (SRP) operated NGS on land leased from the Navajo Nation.
- SRP’s lease with the Navajo Nation required employment preferences for qualified Navajos, consistent with the Navajo Preference in Employment Act.
- Dawavendewa scored high enough to rank ninth out of twenty applicants but was not interviewed because he was not Navajo and thus did not qualify for the preference.
- Dawavendewa sued SRP under Title VII, alleging unlawful national origin discrimination and seeking injunctive relief barring SRP’s use of the Navajo preference and related relief connected to his employment.
- SRP moved to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 19, arguing the Navajo Nation was required for adjudication but could not be joined due to tribal sovereign immunity.
- The district court dismissed the action for failure to join an indispensable party; Dawavendewa appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether the Navajo Nation was a required party under Rule 19(a) because the suit challenged a lease term granting a Navajo hiring preference and sought relief affecting the Nation’s contractual and sovereign interests.
2. Whether joinder of the Navajo Nation was feasible given tribal sovereign immunity.
3. If joinder was not feasible, whether Rule 19(b) required dismissal because the Nation was indispensable.
4. Whether tribal officials could be joined in lieu of the Navajo Nation to avoid the immunity bar.

## Decision

- The Ninth Circuit affirmed dismissal without prejudice.
- The court held the Navajo Nation was a required party under Rule 19(a) because it was a signatory to the lease and the requested injunction would directly affect its contractual rights and sovereign interests.
- The court held joinder was not feasible because the Navajo Nation was protected by tribal sovereign immunity and had not waived it, and Congress had not abrogated it for this suit.
- Applying Rule 19(b), the court concluded the Navajo Nation was indispensable and the action could not proceed “in equity and good conscience” without it.
- The court rejected substituting tribal officials for the Navajo Nation because the Nation itself was the real party in interest regarding the lease-based preference.

## Legal Principles

- A party to a contract is generally required in litigation that would invalidate, restrain, or materially alter contractual rights or performance under that contract.
- Under Rule 19(a), a party is required when complete relief cannot be accorded among existing parties, or when disposing of the action in the party’s absence may impair the party’s interests or expose existing parties to inconsistent obligations.
- Tribal sovereign immunity bars joinder of an Indian tribe absent unequivocal congressional abrogation or a clear tribal waiver.
- When a required party cannot be joined due to sovereign immunity, Rule 19(b) may require dismissal if the absent party’s interests and the risk of prejudice cannot be mitigated through tailored relief.
- Tribal officials cannot be joined as stand-ins where the relief sought would, in substance, operate against the tribe’s contractual rights or governance interests.

## Conclusion

The Ninth Circuit held that because the requested Title VII injunction would effectively interfere with a lease provision negotiated by the Navajo Nation, the Nation was a required and indispensable party under Rule 19; since it could not be joined due to tribal sovereign immunity, the case was properly dismissed without prejudice.


Dawavendewa v. Salt River Project Agric. Improvement & Power Dist., 276 F.3d 1150 (9th Cir. 2002)