Opinion ID: 71650
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Claims Against ALPA

Text: Plaintiffs' claims against ALPA include tortious interference with a contract and tortious interference with a business relationship. To prevail on a claim of tortious interference with a business relationship under Florida law, a plaintiff must establish four elements: (1) the existence of a business relationship, not necessarily evidenced by an enforceable contract; (2) knowledge of the relationship on the part of the defendant; (3) an intentional and unjustified interference with the relationship by the defendant; and (4) damage to the plaintiff as a result of the breach of the relationship. T. Harris Young & Assoc. v. Marquette Electronics, 931 F.2d 816, 825-26 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 1013, 112 S.Ct. 658, 116 L.Ed.2d 749 (1991). Tortious interference with a contract and tortious interference with a business relationship are basically the same cause of action. Smith v. Ocean State Bank, 335 So.2d 641, 642 (Fla. 1st Dist.Ct.App.1976). The only material difference appears to be that in one there is a contract and in the other there is only a business relationship. Id. The plaintiffs contend that ALPA's actions in collectively bargaining with United and United's interest in appeasing the union caused United to forsake the plaintiffs by violating the agreement alleged to have been entered into between the plaintiffs and United. The court also reads the amended complaint to include an allegation by the plaintiffs that the harassment caused interference with the relationship formed between the plaintiffs and United. In its CBAs with United, ALPA agreed not to engage in, and in fact to deter, the harassment that allegedly caused the breach of United's contract with plaintiffs and injured United's relationship with plaintiffs. The allegations made against ALPA are also very tightly intertwined with the alleged duty that United had to protect the plaintiffs. Indeed, assessment of ALPA's actions and the duty of United to protect against these actions can only be done by interpreting the CBAs. It may be found that some of the conduct engaged in by the ALPA is allowed under the CBAs. This will not be known, however, until the arbitration steps provided in the CBAs are undertaken. Application of the Farmer factors also impels RLA preemption. First, we assess the federal interests involved in this case. The present suit involves three parties, all of whom are governed in their employment relationships by the aforementioned CBAs. Additionally, this is a suit by union members against their union and their employer. Thus, the federal concerns regarding the stability of labor relations and the uniformity of handling labor disputes are strong. On the other hand, the state does have an interest in protecting its citizens against conduct that is found to be outrageous. The Court in Farmer found that the claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress—encompassing a certain type of outrageous conduct—avoided federal preemption. The claim pursued in Farmer, however, is not the nature of the claims pursued in this case. Lastly, we must consider to what extent avoiding preemption will interfere with the federal regulatory scheme designed to control labor relations. The determinative fact is that the CBAs control the relationships and employment activities of this employment triangle. All parties—either by their membership in the ALPA, their status as employees of United or as the employer—are controlled by the CBAs regarding the issues of labor relations. Entertaining state-law remedies in federal court under these circumstances would be to by-pass the CBAs agreed to by all parties to this litigation. Persuasive on this issue, and supportive of this court's ruling, is Fry v. Airline Pilots Assoc., International, 88 F.3d 831 (10th Cir.1996). The suit brought by Fry and other plaintiffs, also fleet qualified pilots, was similar, if not identical in many ways, to the case before this court. In Fry, the plaintiffs' state-law claims against United were (1) intentional infliction of emotional distress; (2) conspiracy to inflict emotional distress; (3) breach of contract; and (4) false representation (this cause of action voluntarily dismissed). Id. at 834 n. 3 (emphasis added). The claim against the ALPA was tortious interference with a contract. Id. (emphasis added). At issue in Fry was whether the RLA preempted these state-law claims. The court noted that plaintiffs often [attempt] to avoid federal jurisdiction under § 301 by framing their complaints in terms of such diverse state law theories as wrongful discharge, intentional infliction of emotional distress, conspiracy, and misrepresentation. Id. at 836 (citations omitted). The court held that [a]fter careful review of the record, we conclude that the district court properly determined that plaintiffs' state law claims, based on the theory that United reneged on its responsibility to protect the plaintiffs, cannot be understood without reference to the various CBAs. Id. at 836. The court further stated [i]n this case ... the alleged outrageous conduct is inextricably bound up with agreements and promises made to protect, and then actions allegedly forsaking, the plaintiffs. Id. With respect to the claim for tortious interference with a contract against ALPA, the court determined [w]hether ALPA caused United to breach its contract to protect the plaintiffs cannot be determined without examining and comparing the promised protections afforded by United and the alleged withdrawal of those protections as decided in subsequent negotiating sessions. Id. at 838-39. The court did not, however, find the plaintiffs' emotional distress claims preempted. See id. at 841. The decision by the Tenth Circuit is not binding authority for this court. It is, however, persuasive authority that provides valuable insight. The background and basic facts of Fry are the same as in this case. Fry covers the same strike by ALPA against United, the same CBAs, the same post-strike harassment, and the same post-strike actions taken by United and ALPA. The two material differences between Fry and this case are that the plaintiffs in Fry were different pilots than in this case and some of the claims alleged in the Fry complaint were different than those alleged here. However, all of the state-law causes of action alleged in the case sub judice are covered in Fry. Indeed, the Tenth Circuit's ruling on RLA preemption under virtually the same set of facts as the present case is very instructive. The plaintiffs argue that their claims should fall under the Farmer exception to the preemption doctrine. Farmer held that an otherwise preempted claim could be prosecuted in state or federal court if the conduct alleged was sufficiently outrageous. In Farmer, the cause of action alleged was intentional infliction of emotional distress. No such claim is alleged in the present case. All of plaintiffs' claims in this case sound in contract or quasi-contract. Merely because the plaintiffs allege outrageous conduct as the means by which their contracts were breached does not bring this case under the Farmer exception. Additionally, as discussed above, application of the Farmer balancing test calls for RLA preemption in this case. Lastly, plaintiffs contend that Belknap, Inc. v. Hale, 463 U.S. 491, 103 S.Ct. 3172, 77 L.Ed.2d 798 (1983), applies in this case to avoid federal preemption. In Belknap, the Court held that non-union employees' breach of contract claims should not be preempted. Id. at 500, 103 S.Ct. at 3178. The Court reached this holding because it determined that innocent third parties, that is, employees of the employer but not members of the union and not implicated in any CBAs, should not be deprived of their normal state-law remedies. See id. It is one thing to hold that the federal law intended to leave the employer and the union free to use their economic weapons against one another, but it is quite another to hold that either the employer or the union is free to injure innocent third parties without regard to the normal rules of law governing those relationships. Id. Thus, Belknap is applicable in a situation where a non-union employee does not have at his disposal the protections of the union and the CBAs, but rather has only his normal state-law remedies against the union or his employer. As mentioned above, the plaintiffs are or were ALPA members, as alleged in paragraph 50 of the original complaint. They are pilots for United, and ALPA is the sole bargaining unit for the United pilots. Additionally, we agree with the district court in its ruling that once the striking workers returned to work under the newly negotiated CBA, the rights and duties of all parties involved, including the plaintiffs as United employees, were governed by the newly formed CBAs. Therefore, Belknap is inapposite. Likewise, the Tenth Circuit in Fry reached the same holding regarding the applicability of Belknap. See Fry, 88 F.3d at 838 & n. 9.