Identification

• Over time the courts have inconsistently applied OSHA to labor disputes in Indian territory, according to FindLaw. The 10th and 8th federal circuit courts tend to strike down OSHA in Indian territory, while the 9th, 7th and 2nd circuits have upheld OSHA.
  
  

Important Cases

• In 1982 the 10th circuit court stated in Donovan v. Navajo Forest Products Industries that OSHA did not apply to Navajo Forest Products, a company owned by the tribe.
  
  The 9th circuit court sided with OSHA in the 1991 case U.S. Department of Labor v. OSHA regarding a sawmill on the Water Springs Reservation in Oregon.
  
  

Tip

• Indian territories have "tribal sovereignty," according to FindLaw. Essentially, this means that they can govern themselves. They even have their own court system with formal and unwritten law.