SACRAMENTO - Berry Creek Rancheria of Maidu Indians of California filed a federal lawsuit on December 12 in the Eastern District of California against the State of California, Gavin Newson as governor and Does 1-10 for failure to negotiate in good faith.
According to the lawsuit, Berry Creek, like 14 other Indian tribes who filed suit over the last three years, is still a party to one of the original form class III gaming compacts from 1999 and has been renegotiating the agreement since February 2018 due to approved “off-reservation” gaming proposals. Berry Creek operates the Gold Creek Casino.
Negotiations were a failure thanks to the State, the suit says, as both the starting and ending points of negotiations involved the State expectations for Berry Creek to accept a compact recently executed by another tribe. Accepting those terms would force Berry Creek to adhere to several provisions to which it doesn't agree.
Plaintiffs seek for the court to find the State failed to negotiate in good faith and trigger a statutory remedial process. Plaintiffs are represented by Kevin M. Cochrane of Sacramento.
Eastern District of California case number 2:21-cv-02284-JAM-DMC