Court dismisses action by a tribal nation against a national bank for claims relating to the bank’s incentive compensation sales program

Courts Incentive Compensation CFPA CFPB

On September 25, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico dismissed an action brought by a tribal nation against a national bank alleging, among other things, that the bank’s incentive compensation sales program resulted in the bank’s employees opening deposit and credit card accounts for consumers without obtaining their consent to do so. In December 2017, the tribal nation brought 17 claims against the national bank, including alleged violations of the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) and a variety of federal, state, tribal, and common law violations. The court rejected the tribal nation’s claims under the CFPA, holding they are barred by res judicata, as the claims previously had been litigated under the CFPB’s 2016 consent order (previously covered by InfoBytes here) and that the tribal nation was in privity with the CFPB. The court also rejected the tribal nation’s argument that it was entitled to civil penalties, injunctive and declaratory relief under the doctrine parens patriae, finding the tribal nation failed to allege facts sufficient to demonstrate standing for each claim and each form of relief. As for the state and tribal law claims, the court held that it lacked an independent basis for jurisdiction due to the court’s dismissal of all of the federal law claims.