Thousands of Navajos sue BIA in class action over claims of racial discrimination

Did the BIA, perhaps thousands of times, target Navajo employees for removal from positions with the agency in order to make room for non-Navajo employees?  That's the claim being brought in a class action suit just filed in the US District Court in Albuquerque.

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Albuquerque-based attorney Jeff Dahl filed the lawsuit in the United States District Court in New Mexico's largest city because of its proximity to the Navajo Nation, where the majority of the plaintiffs live.

"A class action of this nature, I'm not aware of one going to federal court before," said Dahl, who is serving as lead counsel in the case. "In terms of a class action filed by members of the Navajo Nation against the BIA, this is the first that I know of."

The complaint, led by two former employees, seeks relief from racial discrimination, a charge based on numerous accounts of Navajo employees targeted for removal to make room for non-Navajo employees.

The complaint also includes allegations that BIE management preselected people for positions and even wrote job descriptions for non-Navajo employees, excluding qualified Navajo applicants from consideration."

Read the full story HERE in the Farmington (NM) Daily Times.

twp