A U.S. District Court has dismissed a discrimination lawsuit by the SnoqualmieTribe of Washington against the city of Snoqualmie, but given the tribe 20 days to amend its complaint. The tribe argues that it was discriminated against when the city raised sewer rates for customers outside of city limits by 50 percent.
That included the tribe’s casino, which was in fact one of only a few businesses outside of that limit. In the midst of negotiations over extending the sewer services contract the city decided to the contract. By ending the contact the city interfered with the tribe’s ability to find another service contactor, asserts the tribe.
Its lawsuit claims “the city is trying to choke out the tribe on the basis of race.”
The judge ruled that the tribe didn’t provide evidence that race was a factor in the city’s decision.
According to a press release by the city: “The city council, the administration, and our staff have always been committed to providing cost-effective utility services—fairly and without regard to race.” It added, “The city wasn’t able to negotiate a long-term sewer contract extension when the other party (the tribe) was refusing to meet or negotiate, so it was only common sense for us to have said that ‘no negotiation means no contract means no future services.’ That was not discrimination, and we are pleased that the court recognized this.”
The tribe’s spin is somewhat different: “The court dismissed, without prejudice, only one of the tribe’s multiple claims against the city. The tribe has every intention of amending our complaint to add more evidence of discrimination as requested by the court.” It added, “Furthermore, the court rejected many of the city’s arguments that the city made in its attempt to make it more difficult for the tribe to prove our claims. We feel good about where we are right now, given what we have learned in the documents the city has provided so far in the discovery process.”
