In August of 2005, George Holland was killed while working for Wheeler Logging on the Yakama Indian Reservation.  Wheeler was cited by OSHA for multiple safety violations which resulted in Mr. Holland's death.  However, Wheeler's liability insurance carrier, Liberty Northwest, denied insurance coverage for the incident.  Mr. Holland's wife, Wilma Holland, then filed a tribal court lawsuit not only against Wheeler Logging, but also against Liberty Northwest Insurance for failing to cover the claim.  Liberty Northwest then filed a lawsuit against Ms. Holland in federal court, asking the federal court to issue an injunction against Ms. Holland and prevent her from pursuing the case against Liberty Northwest in tribal court. 

On December 21, a federal judge denied Liberty Northwest's request and required Liberty to exhaust tribal court remedies.  Click here to read the judge's order, denying Liberty's request.  This was a victory not only for Wilma Holland, but for the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, which has a significant interest in ensuring that logging operations are carried out safely on the Yakama Reservation.