Source: http://openjurist.org/print/442651
Timestamp: 2014-10-23 21:57:04
Document Index: 294712989

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 301', '§ 185', '§ 301', '§ 1447', '§ 1447', '§ 1447', '§ 301', '§ 1447', '§ 1447']

982 F2d 1478 Albertson's Inc v. R Carrigan I Aguirre
982 F2d 1478 Albertson's Inc v. R Carrigan I Aguirre 982 F.2d 1478
142 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2220, 124 Lab.Cas. P 10,509,8 IER Cases 208
ALBERTSON'S, INC., doing business as Grocery Warehouse;Dale Rigsby; Bryan Brown; Don Inman; RonaldCook, Petitioners,v.Jim R. CARRIGAN, District Judge, Respondent,Alfreda Aguirre; Ralph I. Aguirre, Plaintiffs-Real PartiesIn Interest.Alfreda AGUIRRE; Ralph I. Aguirre, Plaintiffs-Appellees,v.ALBERTSON'S, INC., doing business as Grocery Warehouse;Dale Rigsby; Bryan Brown; Don Inman; RonaldCook, Defendants-Appellants.
Nos. 92-1197, 92-1198.
James E. Hautzinger and Andrew W. Volin of Sherman & Howard, Denver, CO, for defendants-appellants.
Michael F. Scott, Denver, CO, for plaintiffs-appellees.
Plaintiff Alfreda Aguirre, a union employee covered by a collective bargaining agreement, was suspended from her employment at Albertson's after she was accused of shoplifting.1 Mrs. Aguirre and her husband, Ralph I. Aguirre, filed a complaint in Colorado district court alleging that defendants Albertson's Inc., Dale Rigsby, Bryan Brown, Don Inman, and Ronald Cook unlawfully suspended Mrs. Aguirre from employment and conspired to accuse her falsely of shoplifting from her employer, Albertson's.2 The complaint alleged a single claim for "extreme and outrageous conduct," inflicting upon plaintiff "severe emotional distress." App. of Petitioners at 1 (hereafter App.). Defendants removed the action to federal district court based upon federal labor law preemption pursuant to § 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 185.
Defendants then filed a motion to dismiss, alleging that the action was preempted by § 301. Plaintiffs filed a motion to remand to state court. The district court determined that plaintiffs' claim for outrageous conduct actually consisted of two claims: one based on suspension and one based on conspiracy to charge Mrs. Aguirre with shoplifting. The district court construed the motion to dismiss as a motion for summary judgment. It dismissed the suspension claim on federal preemption grounds, but concluded that the conspiracy claim was not preempted because it did not require interpretation of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA). However, because diversity jurisdiction no longer existed, the district court exercised its discretion and remanded that claim to state court.
Defendants both appealed (No. 92-1198) and filed a petition for writ of mandamus (No. 92-1197). They argue that plaintiffs' claim of outrageous conduct is completely preempted and, therefore, the complaint should have been dismissed in its entirety without remand of the conspiracy claim to the state court.
* The threshold question we must decide is whether the district court's remand order is reviewable. Although remand orders issued on the grounds stated in 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c) are not reviewable, 28 U.S.C. § 1447(d); Thermtron Prods., Inc. v. Hermansdorfer, 423 U.S. 336, 343, 96 S.Ct. 584, 589, 46 L.Ed.2d 542 (1976); Indian Country, U.S.A., Inc. v. State of Okla. ex rel. Okla. Tax Comm'n, 829 F.2d 967, 970 n. 1 (10th Cir.1987), cert. denied, 487 U.S. 1218, 108 S.Ct. 2870, 101 L.Ed.2d 906 (1988), here review is permissible because the district court did not remand on the basis of a defect in removal procedure or for lack of subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to § 1447(c). Rather, the court acknowledged its jurisdiction under § 301, although it had to dismiss the suspension claim to permit arbitration under the CBA. See Avco Corp. v. Aero Lodge No. 735, Int'l Association of Machinists, 390 U.S. 557, 560-61, 88 S.Ct. 1235, 1237-38, 20 L.Ed.2d 126 (1968). The court considered the claim based on conspiracy to charge with shoplifting as a pendent state claim, and remanded as an exercise of its discretion based on considerations of efficient use of judicial resources, the interests of the parties, and comity. See Carnegie-Mellon University v. Cohill, 484 U.S. 343, 357, 108 S.Ct. 614, 622-23, 98 L.Ed.2d 720 (1988). A remand based on a district court's perceived discretion is not ordered pursuant to § 1447(c). See Price v. PSA, Inc., 829 F.2d 871, 874 (9th Cir.1987), cert. denied, 486 U.S. 1006, 108 S.Ct. 1732, 100 L.Ed.2d 196 (1988). The policy of Thermtron Products, 423 U.S. at 351-52, 96 S.Ct. at 593, to avoid protracted litigation of jurisdictional issues, is inapplicable when a court remands a case on grounds not specified in § 1447(c). Thus, we have authority to review the remand. See J.O. v. Alton Community Unit Sch. Dist. 11, 909 F.2d 267, 270-71 (7th Cir.1990); Price, 829 F.2d at 874; Scott v. Machinists Automotive Trades Dist. Lodge No. 190, 827 F.2d 589, 592 (9th Cir.1987