Here is the cert petition in Lawrence v. United States DOI. Here is the Ninth Circuit’s opinion.
And here are the questions presented, from the cert petition:
1. Can the Department of Interior ignore the imperative of the Indian Preference Act (25 USC § 47.2) by “blindly” applying civil service regulations [5 USC § 831.906(b)], which effectively deprives Indian firefighters on Indian Reservations of the enhanced retirement benefits [5 USC § 8336(c)(1)] to which they may otherwise be entitled.
2. Whether the Secretary of Interior can, by failing to adopt any standards by which the BIA could identify Indian employees as firefighters, thereby exclude the majority of Indian civil service firefighters on Indian Reservations from timely filing for previous years credits toward their enhanced retirement benefits. [ Preston v. Heckler, 734 F.2d 1359 (9th Cir. 1984)]
3. Whether the trial, court erred in ruling that evidence of few BIA Indian firefighter employees applying for enhanced retirement benefits, when, in fact, the BIA employs a majority of Indian firefighters, did not satisfy a prima facie showing of disparate impact.
Turtle Talk 