U.S. District Court Judge James L. Robart moved to dismiss a Snoqualmie Tribe discrimination lawsuit against the city of Snoqualmie May 16. However, Judge Robart gave the tribe 20 days to amend its complaint.

According to the official court ruling, the lawsuit originated from a dispute between the tribe and the city over sewer utilities for the casino in June 2014 when the city raised sewer rates for customers outside of city limits 50 percent over the rates inside the city limits. At the time, the city provided sewer, police, fire and emergency medical services (EMS) to the tribe.

The tribe claimed that the city targeted the casino with the rate increase, since it was one of a few businesses outside of the city under contract for those services.

In 2013, both parties started negotiating the terms of a renewed service agreement; the existing agreement was set to end Nov. 30, 2015. Last July, the tribe asked to extend the agreement for one year, so they would have more time to determine a permanent solution.

The city agreed in October, but sent a letter to the tribe reporting that the city council had decided, in a 3-2 vote, to end the sewer services contract, effective at the end of the extension, Nov. 30 2016.

The letter, signed by Mayor Matt Larson, explained that the city had learned of discussions between the Tribe and Eastside Fire and Rescue to provide EMS services in the future, and that the city was aware of the tribe’s work on a design for its own sewage treatment facility.

“The foregoing facts led the City Council to conclude that the tribe no longer wishes to receive fire, EMS or sanitary sewer services from the city, and that the tribe desired the one-year extension only so that the tribe could finalize arrangements to obtain services from itself, or others,” the Oct. 15 letter stated.

The tribe said the city had interfered with its efforts in obtaining replacement fire and EMS services by submitting a public records request regarding any communication between the tribe and EF&R. The tribe said therequest could increase potential service costs if the city sued EF&R over any agreement with the tribe.

The lawsuit submitted by the tribe Dec. 22, 2015, claims the city’s decisions were intentional racial discrimination and that “the city is trying to choke out the tribe on the basis of race.”

The city asked the court to dismiss the tribe’s allegations due to “insufficient facts to support that claim.”

The court concluded that the tribe did not provide evidence that indicates race was a factor in any of the city’s actions. The ruling states, “The tribe fails to plead facts from which the court can reasonably infer purposeful racial discrimination.”

The tribe argued that the city did not threaten to terminate services to any of its other customers and that the sewer rate increase affected only a few customers, the largest of which is the tribe’s casino property, therefore the city had targeted them based on race.

The court disagreed.

“To begin, the tribe is challenging the city’s 2015 decision to terminate services, not the city’s 2014 rate increase,” the ruling stated. “Moreover, disparate impact alone cannot show intentional discrimination absent a ‘stark’ and ‘clear’ pattern, ‘unexplainable on grounds other than race”… No such pattern is alleged here.”

The court granted the city’s motion to dismiss the tribe’s claim but granted the tribe the option to amend their complaint by early June to “cure the deficiencies” of the claim.

In a statement released by the city of Snoqualmie, Mayor Larson said the city did not discriminate and the council’s decision was based on an inability to negotiate new agreement.

“The city council, the administration, and our staff have always been committed to providing cost-effective utility services – fairly and without regard to race,” Larson said in a press release.

“The city wasn’t able to negotiate a long-term sewer contract extension when the other party (the Tribe) was refusing to meet or negotiate, so it was only common sense for us to have said that ‘no negotiation means no contract means no future services.’ That was not discrimination, and we are pleased that the court recognized this.”

When contacted for comment, tribal spokesman Jerry Lamb said the tribe intended to amend the complaint to add evidence of discrimination.

“The court dismissed, without prejudice, only one of the tribe’s multiple claims against the city. The tribe has every intention of amending our complaint to add more evidence of discrimination as requested by the court,” said Jerry Lamb, executive director of governmental affairs for the Snoqualmie Tribe.

“Furthermore, the court rejected many of the city’s arguments that the city made in its attempt to make it more difficult for the tribe to prove our claims. We feel good about where we are right now, given what we have learned in the documents the city has provided so far in the discovery process.”