Supreme Court Declines to Review School District's Legal Fight With Indian Tribe

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear the appeal of an Arizona school district which fears that it may face exposure in American Indian tribal courts over employment decisions involving schools on land leased on Indian reservations.

The Window Rock Unified School District in Fort Defiance, Ariz., operates on land within the Navajo Nation reservation. Its 1,850 enrollment is about 98 percent American Indian. The district was sued by four school employees (non-teachers) over various employment decisions. The employees, members of the Navajo tribe, lost in a state trial court and mid-level appeals court. But rather than try a further appeal with the Arizona Supreme Court, the employees turned to a Navajo tribal court under a Navajo law requiring Indian preferences in employment.

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/school_law/2018/01/us_supreme_court_declines_to_h.html