Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/496/72/case.html
Timestamp: 2017-06-25 08:54:03
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Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 210', '§ 210', '§ 210', '§ 210', '§ 210', '§ 2011', '§ 5801', '§ 5841', '§ 210', '§ 5851', '§ 210', '§ 210', '§ 210', '§ 210', '§ 210', '§ 210', '§ 210', '§ 210', '§ 210', '§ 210', '§ 210', '§ 210', '§ 210', '§ 210', '§ 210']

English v. General Elec. Co. (full text) :: 496 U.S. 72 (1990) :: Justia US Supreme Court Center Log In
› English v. General Elec. Co.
English v. General Elec. Co. 496 U.S. 72 (1990)
U.S. Supreme CourtEnglish v. General Elec. Co., 496 U.S. 72 (1990)English v. General Electric CompanyNo. 89-152Argued April 25, 1990Decided June 4, 1990496 U.S. 72CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR
(a) The claim is not barred on a field preemption theory. After reviewing the relevant statutory provisions and legislative history, the Court in Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Comm'n, 461 U. S. 190, concluded that "the Federal Government has occupied the entire field of nuclear safety concerns," Page 496 U. S. 73 id. at 461 U. S. 212, and expressed the view that Congress intended that only the "Government should regulate the radiological safety aspects involved in the construction and operation of a nuclear plant," id. at 461 U. S. 205. English's action, however, does not fall within the boundaries of the preempted field as so defined, since the state tort law at issue is not motivated by safety concerns, see id. at 461 U. S. 213, and since the claim's actual effect on the nuclear safety decisions made by those who build and run nuclear facilities is not sufficiently direct and substantial, cf. Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee Corp., 464 U. S. 238. It is thus not surprising that there is no evidence of the necessary "clear and manifest" intent by Congress to preempt such claims. Pp. 496 U. S. 80-86.
BLACKMUN, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court. Page 496 U. S. 74
Petitioner Vera M. English was employed from 1972 to 1984 as a laboratory technician at the nuclear fuels production facility operated by respondent General Electric Company (GE) in Wilmington, N.C. In February 1984, petitioner complained to GE's management and to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) about several perceived violations of nuclear safety standards at the facility, including Page 496 U. S. 75 the failure of her coworkers to clean up radioactive material spills in the laboratory.
"(1) commenced, caused to be commenced, or is about to commence or cause to be commenced a proceeding under this chapter or the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as Page 496 U. S. 76 amended, or a proceeding for the administration or enforcement of any requirement imposed under this chapter or the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended;"
In her charge, petitioner alleged that GE's actions constituted unlawful employment discrimination in retaliation for her nuclear safety complaints to GE's management and to the NRC. An administrative law judge (ALJ) to whom the matter was referred found that GE had violated § 210(a) when it transferred and then discharged petitioner. The Secretary, however, dismissed the complaint as untimely because it had not been filed, as required by § 210(b)(1), within 30 days after the May 15 notice of the company's final decision. [Footnote 3] Page 496 U. S. 77
Although the District Court concluded that petitioner had stated a valid claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress under North Carolina law, it nonetheless granted GE's motion to dismiss. 683 F.Supp. 1006, 1017-1018 (1988). The court did not accept GE's argument that petitioner's claim fell within the field of nuclear safety, a field that, according to GE, had been completely preempted by the Federal Government. The court held, however, that petitioner's claim was preempted because it conflicted with three particular aspects of § 210: (1) a provision that bars recovery under the section to any employee who "deliberately causes a violation of any requirement of [the Energy Reorganization Page 496 U. S. 78 Act,] or of the Atomic Energy Act," § 210(g); (2) the absence of any provision generally authorizing the Secretary to award exemplary or punitive damages; and (3) the provisions requiring that a whistleblower invoking the statute file an administrative complaint within 30 days after the violation occurs, and that the Secretary resolve the complaint within 90 days after its filing. See § 210(b)(1) and (b)(2)(A). In the court's view, Congress enacted this scheme to foreclose all remedies to whistleblowers who themselves violate nuclear safety requirements, to limit exemplary damages awards against the nuclear industry, and to guarantee speedy resolution of allegations of nuclear safety violations -- goals the court found incompatible with the broader remedies petitioner sought under state tort law.
The sole question for our resolution is whether the Federal Government has preempted petitioner's state law tort claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress. Our cases have established that state law is preempted under the Supremacy Clause, U.S. Const. Art. VI, cl. 2, in three circumstances. First, Congress can define explicitly the extent to which its enactments preempt state law. See Shaw v. Delta Air Lines, Inc., 463 U. S. 85, 463 U. S. 95-98 (1983). Preemption Page 496 U. S. 79 fundamentally is a question of congressional intent, see Schneidewind v. ANR Pipeline Co., 485 U. S. 293, 485 U. S. 299 (1988), and when Congress has made its intent known through explicit statutory language, the courts' task is an easy one.
Finally, state law is preempted to the extent that it actually conflicts with federal law. Thus, the Court has found preemption where it is impossible for a private party to comply with both state and federal requirements, see, e.g., Florida Lime & Avocado Growers, Inc. v. Paul, 373 U. S. 132, 373 U. S. 142-143 (1963), or where state law "stands as an obstacle to the accomplishment and execution of the full purposes and objectives of Congress." Hines v. Davidowitz, 312 U. S. 52, 312 U. S. 67 (1941). See also Maryland v. Louisiana, 451 U. S. 725, 451 U. S. 747 (1981). [Footnote 5] Page 496 U. S. 80
Until 1954, the use, control, and ownership of all nuclear technology remained a federal monopoly. The Atomic Energy Act of 1954, 68 Stat. 919, as amended, 42 U.S.C. Page 496 U. S. 81 § 2011 et seq., stemmed from Congress' belief that the national interest would be served if the Government encouraged the private sector to develop atomic energy for peaceful purposes under a program of federal regulation and licensing. The Act implemented this policy decision by opening the door to private construction, ownership, and operation of commercial nuclear power reactors under the strict supervision of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). See Duke Power Co. v. Carolina Environmental Study Group, Inc., 438 U. S. 59, 438 U. S. 63 (1978). The AEC was given exclusive authority to license the transfer, delivery, receipt, acquisition, possession, and use of all nuclear materials. As was observed in Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 435 U. S. 519, 435 U. S. 550 (1978), "[t]he [Federal Government's] prime area of concern in the licensing context . . . [was] national security, public health, and safety." With respect to these matters, no significant role was contemplated for the States.
In 1974, Congress passed the Energy Reorganization Act, 88 Stat. 1233, 42 U.S.C. §§ 5801 et seq., which abolished the AEC and transferred its regulatory and licensing authority to the NRC. § 5841(f). The 1974 Act also expanded the number and range of safety responsibilities under the NRC's charge. As was observed in Pacific Gas, the Page 496 U. S. 82 NRC does not purport to exercise its authority based upon economic considerations, but rather is concerned primarily with public health and safety. See 461 U.S. at 461 U. S. 207. Finally, in 1978, Congress amended both the Atomic Energy Act and the Energy Reorganization Act. Pub.L. No. 95-601, 92 Stat. 2947. Among these amendments is § 210, 42 U.S.C. § 5851, which, as discussed above, encourages employees to report safety violations and provides a mechanism for protecting them against retaliation for doing so.
Petitioner and the United States as amicus curiae, on their part, contend that petitioner's claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress is not preempted because the Page 496 U. S. 83 Court made clear in Pacific Gas that state laws supported by nonsafety rationales do not lie within the preempted field. They argue that, since the state tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress is supported by a nonsafety rationale -- namely, the State's "substantial interest in protecting its citizens from the kind of abuse of which [petitioner] complain[s]," see Farmer v. Carpenters, 430 U. S. 290, 430 U. S. 302 (1977) -- petitioner's cause of action must be allowed to go forward.
We think both arguments are somewhat wide of the mark. With respect to respondent's contention, we find no "clear and manifest" intent on the part of Congress, in enacting § 210, to preempt all state tort laws that traditionally have been available to those persons who, like petitioner, allege outrageous conduct at the hands of an employer. Indeed, acceptance of respondent's argument would require us to conclude that Congress has displaced not only state tort law, which is at issue in this case, but also state criminal law, to the extent that such criminal law is applied to retaliatory conduct occurring at the site of a nuclear employer. For example, if an employer were to retaliate against a nuclear whistleblower by hiring thugs to assault the employee on the job (conduct literally covered by § 210), respondent's position would imply that the state criminal law prohibiting such conduct is within the preempted field. We simply cannot believe that Congress intended that result. Instead, we think the District. Court was essentially correct in observing that, while § 210 obviously bears some relation to the field of nuclear safety, its "paramount" purpose was the protection of employees. [Footnote 6] See 683 F.Supp., at 1013. Accordingly, we see no basis for respondent's contention that all state law claims arising from conduct covered by the section are necessarily included in the preempted field. Page 496 U. S. 84
Because it is clear that the state tort law at issue here is not motivated by safety concerns, the former portion of the field argument is not relevant. [Footnote 7] The real issue, then, is Page 496 U. S. 85 whether petitioner's tort claim is so related to the "radiological safety aspects involved in the . . . operation of a nuclear [facility]," see id. at 461 U. S. 205, that it falls within the preempted field. In addressing this issue, we must bear in mind that not every state law that in some remote way may affect the nuclear safety decisions made by those who build and run nuclear facilities can be said to fall within the preempted field. We have no doubt, for instance, that the application of state minimum wage and child labor laws to employees at nuclear facilities would not be preempted, even though these laws could be said to affect tangentially some of the resource allocation decisions that might have a bearing on radiological safety. Instead, for a state law to fall within the preempted zone, it must have some direct and substantial effect on the decisions made by those who build or operate nuclear facilities concerning radiological safety levels. We recognize that the claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress at issue here may have some effect on these decisions, because liability for claims like petitioner's will attach additional consequences to retaliatory conduct by employers. As employers find retaliation more costly, they will be forced to deal with complaints by whistleblowers by other means, including altering radiological safety policies. Nevertheless, we believe that this effect is neither direct nor substantial enough to place petitioner's claim in the preempted field.
"the tension between the conclusion Page 496 U. S. 86 that [radiological] safety regulation is the exclusive concern of the federal law and the conclusion that a State may nevertheless award damages [including punitive damages] based on its own law of liability"
governing unsafe working conditions. 464 U.S. at 464 U. S. 256. Although the decision in Silkwood was based in substantial part on legislative history suggesting that Congress did not intend to include in the preempted field state tort remedies for radiation-based injuries, see 464 U.S. at 464 U. S. 251-256, we think it would be odd, if not irrational, to conclude that Congress intended to include tort actions stemming from retaliation against whistleblowers in the preempted field, but intended not to include tort actions stemming from radiation damage suffered as a result of actual safety violations. Potential liability for the kind of claim at issue in Silkwood will affect radiological safety decisions more directly than will potential liability under the kind of claim petitioner raises, because the tort claim in Silkwood attaches additional consequences to safety violations themselves, rather than to employer conduct that merely arises from allegations of safety violations. Moreover, and related, the prospect of compensatory and punitive damages for radiation-based injuries will undoubtedly affect nuclear employers' primary decisions about radiological safety in the construction and operation of nuclear power facilities far more substantially than will liability under the kind of claim petitioner asserts. It is thus not surprising that we find no evidence of a "clear and manifest" intent on the part of Congress to preempt tort claims like petitioner's. Cf. Goodyear Atomic Corp. v. Miller, 486 U. S. 174, 486 U. S. 186 (1988) (increased workers' compensation award for injury caused by a safety violation at a government-owned nuclear facility is "incidental regulatory pressure" that Congress finds acceptable). Accordingly, we conclude that petitioner's claim does not lie within the preempted field of nuclear safety. [Footnote 8] Page 496 U. S. 87
The District Court relied first on § 210(g), which provides that "Subsection (a) of this section [the prohibition on employer retaliation] shall not apply" where an employee "deliberately causes a violation of any requirement of this Act or of the Atomic Energy Act." According to the District Court and respondent, this section reflects a congressional desire to preclude all relief, including state remedies, to a whistleblower who deliberately commits a safety violation referred Page 496 U. S. 88 to in § 210(g). Permitting any state law claim based on whistleblowing retaliation, the court reasoned, would frustrate this congressional objective. We do not agree. As an initial matter, we note that the text of § 210(g) specifically limits its applicability to the remedy provided by § 210(a), and does not suggest that it bars state law tort actions. Nor does the legislative history of § 210 reveal a clear congressional purpose to supplant state law causes of action that might afford broader relief. Indeed, the only explanation for any of the statute's remedial limitations is the Committee Report's statement that employees who deliberately violate nuclear safety requirements would be denied protection under § 210(g) "[i]n order to avoid abuse of the protection afforded under this section." S.Rep. No. 95-848, p. 30 (1978) (emphasis added), U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 1978, pp. 7303-04.
The District Court also relied on the absence in § 210 of general authorization for the Secretary to award exemplary damages against employers who engage in retaliatory conduct. The District Court concluded, and respondent now argues, that this absence implies a congressional intent to bar a state action, like petitioner's, that permits such an award. Page 496 U. S. 89 As the District Court put it, § 210 reflects
Finally, we address the District Court's holding that the expeditious timeframes provided by Congress for the processing of § 210 claims reflect a congressional decision that no whistleblower should be able to recover under any other law after the time for filing under § 210 has expired. The District Court reasoned, and respondent agrees, that if a state law remedy is available after the time for filing a § 210 complaint has run, a whistleblower will have less incentive to bring a § 210 complaint. As a result, the argument runs, federal regulatory agencies will remain unaware of some safety violations and retaliatory behavior, and will thus be unable to ensure radiological safety at nuclear facilities. We cannot deny that there is some force to this argument, but we Page 496 U. S. 90 do not believe that the problem is as great as respondent suggests.