Federal court dismisses suit on Navajo employment preferences

KVOA TV

PHOENIX A federal court has dismissed a U-S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit against a coal company and the Navajo Nation for alleged discrimination against other American Indians.

Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Junior was commended by a federal court in Phoenix for upholding Navajo preference in employment but braced for a possible appeal.

The September 30th ruling by federal Judge Mary Murguia dismissed E-E-O-C's complaint against Peabody Western Coal and the Navajo Nation and also entered a summary judgment on the merits in favor of the tribe.

The E-E-O-C suit was filed in June 2005. It contended that Peabody discriminated against two Hopi workers and a member of the Otoe Tribe.

Peabody leases mining rights from the Navajo Nation for its Black Mesa mines in northeastern Arizona.