Opinion ID: 448000
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Fourth Claim: Fraud and Breach of Fiduciary Duty.

Text: 45 Our disposition of the fourth claim follows that of the second and third. In their fourth claim, plaintiffs allege that Gulf misled them by representing to them that they were not entitled to severance pay from Gulf, and that the terms of their employment with Thrifty were substantially as favorable as those with Gulf. Plaintiffs further allege that, as a result of such misrepresentations, they accepted terms of employment with Thrifty that did not include severance pay. As with the second and third claims, we find that this claim is preempted insofar as it relates to the loss of severance benefits allegedly accumulated during the course of plaintiffs' employment with Gulf, see Blau, 748 F.2d at 1356, but is not preempted insofar as it relates to the loss of benefits that the plaintiffs allege they would have accumulated during the course of their employment with Thrifty.