Opinion ID: 560373
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Remanding Case to State Court

Text: 22 The question that confronts this court is whether the case should be remanded to state court now that only a state-law claim remains, not whether the defendant properly removed the case to federal court. Nevertheless, the issue of removal controls our analysis. As a preliminary matter we note that Roadway, the party which sought removal, alleged diversity of citizenship, but has never established it. 2 Irrespective, however, of whether the parties to this dispute are diverse, this case must be remanded to state court. 23 To restrict diversity jurisdiction and to stop the removal of compensation cases which were increasing the already overburdened docket of the federal courts, Congress enacted section 1445(c) of Title 28 of the United States Code. S.Rep. No. 1830, 85th Cong., 2nd Sess., reprinted in 1958 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 3099, 3103-06. Section 1445(c) declares: 24 A civil action in any State court arising under the workmen's compensation laws of such State may not be removed to any district court of the United States. 25 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1445(c). This statute reflects a strong congressional policy that where the state court has been utilized by one of the parties in the state compensation machinery, the case should remain in the state court for its ultimate disposition. Kay v. Home Indemnity Co., 337 F.2d 898, 902 (5th Cir.1964). Convinced that compensation cases have little real business in a federal court, this court has been reluctant to strain to find a way to entertain workmen's compensation suits. Id. at 901. 26 We must, however, determine preliminarily whether an action under article 8307c is a civil action arising under the workers' compensation laws of Texas. Several federal district courts in Texas have answered affirmatively. E.g., Soto v. Tonka Corp., 716 F.Supp. 977, 979 (W.D.Tex.1989); Chavez v. Farah Mfg. Co., 715 F.Supp. 177, 178 (W.D.Tex.1989); Wallace v. Ryan-Walsh Stevedoring Co., 708 F.Supp. 144, 149 (E.D.Tex.1989). But at least three such courts have held otherwise. Chatman v. Saks Fifth Ave., 762 F.Supp. 152 (S.D.Tex.1991); Gillis v. U.S. Natural Resources Inc., 4 IER Cases 1259, 1989 WL 132312 (W.D.Tex.1989); Richardson v. Owens-Illinois Glass Container, Inc., 698 F.Supp. 673 (W.D.Tex.1988). 3 In Chatman the district court stated that although article 8307c remained intact after the Texas Legislature comprehensively revamped the state's workers' compensation laws in 1989, the Legislature expressly deleted the article from the bill that eventually passed, thereby indicating that the Legislature did not consider article 8307c to be part of the workers' compensation laws. Chatman, 762 F.Supp. 152. But whether a state has codified a statute as part of its workers' compensation chapter does not determine whether a claim filed under that statute is one arising under the workers' compensation laws for the purpose of section 1445(c). 27 Richardson bases its conclusion that an article 8307c claim does not arise under the compensation laws on two Texas appellate court decisions: Fidelity & Casualty Co. v. Gaedcke Equipment Co., 716 S.W.2d 542, 543 (Tex.App.1986, writ ref'd n.r.e.), and Artco-Bell Corp. v. Liberty-Mutual Ins. Co., 649 S.W.2d 722, 724 (Tex.App.1983 no writ). 4 But these state court decisions neither could nor did decide whether for the purposes of section 1445(c) an article 8307c claim arises under the compensation laws of Texas. 28 Federal law governs the construction of removal statutes. See Grubbs v. General Elec. Credit Corp., 405 U.S. 699, 705, 92 S.Ct. 1344, 1349, 31 L.Ed.2d 612, 619 (1972); Paxton v. Weaver, 553 F.2d 936, 940-41 (5th Cir.1977) (construction of the removal statute [28 U.S.C. Sec. 1441(c) ] is a question of federal law). Because Congress intended that all cases arising under a state's workers' compensation scheme remain in state court, we believe that we should read section 1445(c) broadly to further that purpose. 29 This court has declared, in analyzing the statute that grants federal question jurisdiction, 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1331, that  '[a] suit arises under the law that creates the cause of action.'  Lowe v. Ingalls Shipbuilding, 723 F.2d 1173, 1178 (5th Cir.1984) (quoting American Well Works Co. v. Layne & Bowler Co., 241 U.S. 257, 260, 36 S.Ct. 585, 586, 60 L.Ed. 987 (1916); Superior Oil Co. v. Pioneer Corp., 706 F.2d 603, 605 (5th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 1041, 104 S.Ct. 706, 79 L.Ed.2d 171 (1984)). We do not see any reason not to define arising under in section 1445(c) as we have defined it in section 1331. 30 When we apply this definition to an article 8307c lawsuit, we are satisfied that such a suit arises under the workers' compensation laws of Texas within the meaning of section 1445(c). Article 8307c enables injured workers to exercise their rights under that scheme. Carnation Co., 588 S.W.2d at 819. The Texas Legislature enacted article 8307c to safeguard its workers' compensation scheme. See Fernandez v. Reynolds Metals Co., 384 F.Supp. 1281, 1283 (S.D.Tex.1974). Were workers to refrain from filing claims for benefits or otherwise to refuse to participate in compensation proceedings for fear of retaliation, the legislature's elaborate workers' compensation scheme would be adversely affected. See Thomas v. Kroger Co., 583 F.Supp. 1031, 1037 (S.D.W.Va.1984). In short, were it not for the workers' compensation laws, article 8307c would not exist, as its incorporation in Title 130 of the revised civil statutes of Texas covering workers' compensation suggests. Consequently, we reject as too narrow the view of the scope of section 1445(c) presented in both Chatman and Richardson, and hold instead that, for the purposes of section 1445(c), Jones' civil action under article 8307c arises under the workers' compensation laws of Texas. Our holding requires that this case be remanded to state court. III