FACTA violations

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Jeremy Meyers v. Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin

Case No.: 15-3127

Officials: MANION and ROVNER, Circuit Judges, and BLAKEY, District Judge.

Focus: FACTA violations

Tribe has sovereign immunity

“This leaves one last loose end. Meyers argues that the Fair Credit Reporting Act is a statute of general applicability and thus is assumed to apply to Indian tribes. See Smart v. State Farm Ins. Co., 868 F.2d 929, 932 (7th Cir. 1989), superseded by statute on other grounds, Pub. L. No. 109–280, § 906(a)(2)(A), 120 Stat. 780, 1051 (2006), as recognized in Bolssen v. Unum Life Ins. Co. of Am., 629 F. Supp. 2d 878, 881 (E.D. Wis. 2009) (“when Congress enacts a statute of general applicability, the statute reaches everyone within federal jurisdiction not specifically excluded, including Indians and Tribes.”). As the district court correctly pointed out, “the question here is not whether the Tribe is subject to FCRA; it is whether Plaintiff can sue the Tribe for violating FCRA.” D. Ct. Order at 6 (R. 23, p.6). “[W]hether an Indian tribe is subject to a statute and whether the tribe may be sued for violating the statute are two entirely different questions.” Florida Paraplegic, Assʹn, Inc. v. Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, 166 F.3d 1126, 1130 (11th Cir. 1999) (emphasis in original); see also Kiowa Tribe v. Manufacturing Tech., Inc., 523 U.S. 751, 755 (1998) (“There is a difference between the right to demand compliance with state laws and the means available to enforce them.”); In re Natʹl Cattle Cong., 247 B.R. at 265.  “

Affirmed

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