Opinion ID: 527085
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Removal Jurisdiction Based on Sec. 301

Text: 10 A suit may be removed to federal district court only if it could have been brought there originally. See 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1441(a) (1982); Caterpillar, Inc. v. Williams, 482 U.S. 386, 392, 107 S.Ct. 2425, 2429, 96 L.Ed.2d 318 (1987); Hyles v. Mensing, 849 F.2d 1213, 1215 (9th Cir.1988). 11 The presence or absence of federal-question jurisdiction is governed by the well-pleaded complaint rule, which provides that federal jurisdiction exists only when a federal question is presented on the face of the plaintiff's properly pleaded complaint. The rule makes the plaintiff the master of the claim; he or she may avoid federal jurisdiction by exclusive reliance on state law. 12 Caterpillar, 482 U.S. at 392, 107 S.Ct. at 2429 (citation and footnote omitted). Accordingly [A] case may not be removed to federal court on the basis of a federal defense, including the defense of preemption.... Id. at 393, 107 S.Ct. at 2430 (emphasis in original); see also Newberry v. Pacific Racing Ass'n, 854 F.2d 1142, 1146 (9th Cir.1988); Young v. Anthony's Fish Grottos, Inc., 830 F.2d 993, 996 (9th Cir.1987). 13 Under the complete pre-emption doctrine, however, 14 the pre-emptive force of a statute [may be] so extraordinary that it converts an ordinary state common-law omplaint into one stating a federal claim for purposes of the well-pleaded complaint rule. Once an area of state law has been completely pre-empted, any claim purportedly based on that pre-empted state law is considered, from its inception, a federal claim, and therefore arises under federal law. 15 Caterpillar, 482 U.S. at 393, 107 S.Ct. at 2430 (quoting Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. v. Taylor, 481 U.S. 58, 63, 107 S.Ct. 1542, 1546, 95 L.Ed.2d 55 (1987) (footnote omitted)); see also Chmiel v. Beverly Wilshire Hotel Co., 873 F.2d 1283, 1285 (9th Cir.1989); Newberry, 854 F.2d at 1146; Young, 830 F.2d at 996-97. 16 The complete preemption corollary to the well-pleaded complaint rule is most often applied in cases raising claims preempted by section 301 of the LMRA. Section 301(a) provides federal jurisdiction over [s]uits for violation of contracts between an employer and a labor organization. 29 U.S.C. Sec. 185(a). 17 [T]he pre-emptive force of Sec. 301 is so powerful as to displace entirely any state cause of action for violation of contracts between an employer and a labor organization. Any such suit is purely a creature of federal law, notwithstanding the fact that state law would provide a cause of action in the absence of Sec. 301. 18 Franchise Tax Bd. v. Constr. Laborers Vacation Trust, 463 U.S. 1, 23, 103 S.Ct. 2841, 2853, 77 L.Ed.2d 420 (1983) (footnote omitted); accord Avco Corp. v. Aero Lodge No. 735, Int'l Ass'n of Machinists, 390 U.S. 557, 558, 88 S.Ct. 1235, 1236, 20 L.Ed.2d 126 (1968) (when [t]he heart of the [state law] complaint [is] a ... clause in the collective bargaining agreement, the complaint arises under federal law); Lingle v. Norge Div. of Magic Chef, Inc., 486 U.S. 399, 108 S.Ct. 1877, 1881 & nn. 4, 5, 100 L.Ed.2d 410 (1988); International Bhd. of Elec. Workers v. Hechler, 481 U.S. 851, 856-57, 107 S.Ct. 2161, 2165-66, 95 L.Ed.2d 791 (1987); Caterpillar, 482 U.S. at 393, 107 S.Ct. at 2430; Allis-Chalmers Corp. v. Lueck, 471 U.S. 202, 210, 105 S.Ct. 1904, 1910, 85 L.Ed.2d 206 (1985); Chmiel, 873 F.2d at 1285; Newberry, 854 F.2d at 1146; Young, 830 F.2d at 997; Stallcop v. Kaiser Found. Hosps., 820 F.2d 1044, 1048 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 108 S.Ct. 504, 98 L.Ed.2d 502 (1987). In short, [a] suit for breach of a collective bargaining agreement is governed exclusively by federal law under section 301. Newberry, 854 F.2d at 1146; Young, 830 F.2d at 997. 19 Jackson's fourth cause of action alleges breach of the collective bargaining agreement and quotes at length from section 12.03 of the agreement. Section 12.03 relates to causes for disciplinary action. This claim is therefore one to enforce the collective bargaining agreement and is controlled by section 301. 20 The remainder of Jackson's state law claims share with this federal claim a common nucleus of operative fact because the claims arise from the alleged discriminatory conduct that Jackson alleges caused him constructively to be discharged. See Carnegie-Mellon Univ. v. Cohill, 484 U.S. 343, 108 S.Ct. 614, 618-19, 98 L.Ed.2d 720 (1988); United Mineworkers v. Gibbs, 383 U.S. 715, 725-27, 86 S.Ct. 1130, 1138-40, 16 L.Ed.2d 218 (1966). Jackson's state law claims therefore fall within the scope of pendent jurisdiction. Gibbs, 383 U.S. at 725, 86 S.Ct. at 1138. Because Jackson's state law claims could have been brought originally in the district court as pendent claims, the district court had jurisdiction on removal to address the pendent state claims. See Bale, 795 F.2d at 778. In light of our conclusion that the district court had pendent jurisdiction on removal of each of Jackson's state law claims, we need not consider whether the district court could also exercise removal jurisdiction on the alternative ground that the state law claims could be recharacterized as federal section 301 claims. See id. 3