
The Lummi Nation v. Engineering Firm
$4.25 million settlement
Plaintiff's co-counsel: Michael E. Withey, Paul L. Stritmatter, Brad J. Moore
After an engineering company uncovered 28 intact ancestral remains and took them out of state without notifying the Lummi tribe, the tribe asked our firm to bring an action. They wanted to recover the significant costs they had expended to recover and rebury those remains as well as others that had been excavated off the site to a landfill. Our legal team, headed by Mike Withey, Paul Stritmatter and Brad Moore, won a signifcant legal ruling that the engineering firm had violated the Indian Graves and Records Act. The decision paved the way for a $4,250,000 settlement for the tribe and more than 1,230 tribal members.