Gunster shareholder Robert Hackleman, representing AECOM Technology Corp., the contractor involved in a legal dispute between AECOM and the Seminole Tribe of Florida, spoke recently to the Daily Business Review .
AECOM claims it is now owed close to $15 million for change orders on contracts to build water and wastewater treatment plants for the tribe. The tribe has claimed sovereign immunity and most recently, that the state court did not have jurisdiction to hear the matter. In May, a Broward circuit court judge denied the tribe’s motion to dismiss. Attorneys for the tribe have since appealed that order.
What has gained notice throughout the lawsuit is the closed system under which the tribe operates. According the Daily Business Review article, the tribe has no court system for resolving civil disputes, prohibits nonmembers from attending council meetings, and keeps its records secret.
Very little is known of their operations, Hackleman told the Daily Business Review, because whenever there’s a problem, the tribe claims sovereign immunity.
Read the entire article as published in the Daily Business Review on August 2, 2012: Seminole Tribe appeals rejection of sovereign immunity defense.
