NY federal appeals court: Joe Frazier has to take his casino fight to tribal court
By Larry Neumeister, APThursday, October 8, 2009
NY fed court: Joe Frazier can’t sue tribe here
NEW YORK — A federal appeals court in New York says former heavyweight boxing champion Joe Frazier cannot sue the Oneida Indian Nation because of the tribe’s sovereign status.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said Thursday that Frazier will have to take his dispute with the operator of the Turning Stone Casino to the tribe’s own court.
Frazier sued the tribe in 2002. He says it used his picture without permission to promote a boxing match between his daughter and the daughter of Muhammad Ali.
A lower court judge had ruled that Frazier couldn’t sue the tribe in federal court because of the tribe’s sovereign status. The appeals court agreed.
A message left for Frazier’s lawyer was not immediately returned.
