C & L Enterprises, Inc. v. Citizen Band Potawatomi Indian Tribe of Oklahoma

Summary

Justice Ginsburg delivered the unanimous opinion holding that the Tribe clearly waived its sovereign immunity from a state-court action to enforce an arbitration award. The contract required binding arbitration, authorized judicial enforcement of awards, incorporated arbitration rules contemplating enforcement in state or federal court, and selected Oklahoma law. Those provisions established consent to enforcement in Oklahoma state court without expressly using the words “sovereign immunity.” The Court reversed and remanded. It declined to address the Tribe’s alternative arguments concerning the contract’s statutory validity and the signatories’ authority, which had not been addressed below and were outside the questions presented. There were no separate opinions.