What if my Employer is a Native American Tribe?

Tuesday, September 22, 2009 | 0

By Terri L. Herring-Puz

The number of workers in Washington state who work for a Native American tribe, or in a tribal-owned business, is growing every day. Just think of all the casinos and associated businesses you see opening in your area. If you are employed by a tribe, and are injured at work, do you have a L&I claim?

There is not an easy answer to that question. But I do have an easy first step if you are injured - file a Washington State Labor and Industries (L&I) claim AND file a claim with the particular tribe as required by your employer.

Tribes are sovereign nations. As such, they are not bound by our state workers' compensation law. By way of example, if you were injured working for an Australian employer in Australia, you would be entitled to whatever rights or benefits Australian law outlined. The same is true if you work for a Native American tribe on tribal-owned land. You are entitled to whatever rights and benefits are outlined by the tribe. While some of those benefits may track what is provided by the state, the exact nature of the rights and the processes for filing a claim will be dictated by each individual tribe.

So, why file a state L&I claim? L&I will allow claims where the employer is a tribe, but the business is not on tribal land, or where the business is on tribal land, but is not owned by a tribe. As an employee, you may have no way ascertaining who exactly owns a business, and whether the property is tribal land or not. The department will investigate and allow or reject the claim as appropriate.

There is another good reason to file a claim, even if you are fairly certain it will be rejected because the business is owned by a tribe, and is clearly on tribal land. The state has no way of gathering information about how many injuries are occurring in these situations. Tribes are not required to report on-the-job injuries to the state. As a result, the state has no way of tracking these injuries or documenting whether such injuries are increasing.

If an L&I claim is filed, and rejected, the department has been able to gather the information. With information on the number and types of injuries occurring in tribal businesses, the state will be in a better position to understand how this growing sector of our economy is affecting workers injured on the job in our state.

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Terri L. Herring-Puz is an attorney in the applicants' workers' compensation law firm of Welch & Condon in Tacoma, Wash.
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