Opinion ID: 514778
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Garmon-Preemption and Removal Jurisdiction

Text: 33 Harbor House relies on sections 7 and 8 of the NLRA to show that Ethridge's retaliatory discharge claim is preempted by federal law. Section 7 provides in pertinent part, Employees shall have the right to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organization.... 29 U.S.C. Sec. 157. Under section 8(a), 34 It shall be an unfair labor practice for an employer-- 35 (1) to interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in the exercise of rights guaranteed in section 157 of this title; 36 .... 37 (3) by discrimination in regard to hire or tenure of employment or any term or condition of employment to encourage or discourage membership in any labor organization.... 38 Id. Sec. 158(a)(1), (3). Based on these sections, the district court concluded that it had jurisdiction over the removed 1986 complaint because Ethridge's retaliatory discharge claim arose under the NLRA--federal law that completely preempted the state law claims. But for the district court to have removal jurisdiction, it must have had original jurisdiction. It did not. 39 In enacting the National Labor Relations Act, Congress created a complex and interrelated federal scheme of law, remedy, and administration. San Diego Building Trades Council v. Garmon, 359 U.S. 236, 243, 79 S.Ct. 773, 778, 3 L.Ed.2d 775 (1959). It also is true that section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 185(a) (LMRA), which was adopted as an amendment to the National Labor Relations Act, 40 displace[s] entirely any state cause of action for violation of a collective bargaining agreement. In such a case, the action may be removed to federal court even if an otherwise adequate state cause of action may exist. The Supreme Court recently reiterated that Section 301 preempts claims founded directly on rights created by collective bargaining agreements, and also claims which are substantially dependent on analysis of a collective bargaining agreement. 41 Paige v. Henry J. Kaiser Co., 826 F.2d 857, 861 (9th Cir.1987) (discussing Franchise Tax Bd. v. Construction Laborers Vacation Trust, 463 U.S. 1, 103 S.Ct. 2841, 77 L.Ed.2d 420 (1983), and Caterpillar, Inc. v. Williams, 482 U.S. 386, 107 S.Ct. 2425, 96 L.Ed.2d 318 (1987)), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 108 S.Ct. 2819, 100 L.Ed.2d 921 (1988). But because we must consider the intent of Congress in enacting the federal statute [28 U.S.C. Secs. 157, 158], id., we are not free to conclude that because actions under section 301 of the LMRA are removable to federal district court, actions under sections 7 and 8 of the NLRA are likewise removable. Indeed, the Supreme Court has made it plain that actions under sections 7 and 8 of the NLRA are committed by Congress in the first instance to the National Labor Relations Board. See, e.g., Garmon, 359 U.S. at 242-43, 79 S.Ct. at 778 (quoting Garner v. Teamsters Union, 346 U.S. 485, 490-91, 74 S.Ct. 161, 165-66, 98 L.Ed. 228 (1953)). The principal consequence of the NLRB's primary jurisdiction, see Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. San Diego Dist. Council of Carpenters, 436 U.S. 180, 199 n. 29, 98 S.Ct. 1745, 1758 n. 29, 56 L.Ed.2d 209 (1978), is that [w]hen an activity is arguably subject to Sec. 7 or Sec. 8 of the Act, the States as well as the federal courts must defer to the exclusive competence of the National Labor Relations Board if the danger of state interference with national policy is to be averted. Garmon, 359 U.S. at 245, 79 S.Ct. at 780 (emphasis added). As the Tenth Circuit has explained, 42 Sections 7 and 8 do not confer original federal court jurisdiction over actions within its scope; they confer jurisdiction in the first instance upon the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). 43 Under principles announced in [Garmon ], both state and federal courts generally lack original jurisdiction to determine disputes involving conduct actually or arguably protected or prohibited by the NLRA. The Supreme Court has considered it essential to the administration of the NLRA that determinations regarding the scope and effect of Secs. 7 and 8 be left in the first instance to the National Labor Relations Board. 44 United Ass'n of Journeymen & Apprentices of Plumbing & Pipe Fitting Indus., Local No. 57 v. Bechtel Power Corp., 834 F.2d 884, 886-87 (10th Cir.1987) (citations omitted), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 108 S.Ct. 2822, 100 L.Ed.2d 923 (1988). 45 That sections 7 and 8 do not confer original federal question jurisdiction on the federal district courts should end our inquiry in this case. As we said in the foregoing section of our analysis, when a district court lacks original jurisdiction, it likewise lacks removal jurisdiction. Lacking jurisdiction, 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1447(c) requires the district court to remand the action to the state court. 5 Notwithstanding this rather clear statutory directive, however, some of our decisions seem to suggest that dismissal might be the proper course when an action within sections 7 and 8 of the NLRA is removed to federal court. These cases may be reconciled with our decision today. But in doing so, we must first acknowledge that we did not speculate very well when we theorized in a footnote: 46 The NLRA may constitute a fairly unique area of law where, at least in some cases, the determination of federal jurisdiction in the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) employs the identical analysis required to determine whether a state law claim is preempted. If the activity underlying a state law claim is arguably subject to regulation under sections 7 and 8 of the NLRA, 29 U.S.C. Secs. 157, 158, the action is both preempted and falls within the exclusive jurisdiction of the NLRB. A federal court may be able to take jurisdiction over a case removed from state court for the limited purpose of determining whether exclusive federal jurisdiction exists in the NLRB. 47 Williams v. Caterpillar Tractor Co., 786 F.2d 928, 934 n. 3 (1986), aff'd, 482 U.S. 386, 107 S.Ct. 2425, 96 L.Ed.2d 318 (1987) (emphasis added). In another case, in which we concluded that the Railway Labor Act, 45 U.S.C. Sec. 152, did not completely preempt a state law claim for retaliatory discharge, we said that absent clear congressional intent to preempt state law, we would not ourselves create federal jurisdiction. Price v. PSA, Inc., 829 F.2d 871, 876 (9th Cir.1987), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 108 S.Ct. 1732, 100 L.Ed.2d 196 (1988). Speaking for the court, Judge Sneed explained, Congress or the Supreme Court can steady us if either finds our step faulty. Id. We think that in its recent Caterpillar decision, as well as in other, earlier decisions, the Supreme Court has steadied us upon the proper path from which we may have strayed by our speculation in our Caterpillar footnote. 48 In its Garmon decision, the Supreme Court observed that in enacting sections 7 and 8 of the NLRA, Congress did not intend to preempt all regulation of labor-related matters by the states. See Garmon, 359 U.S. at 240, 79 S.Ct. at 777. The Court explained that 49 due regard for the presuppositions of our embracing federal system ... has required us not to find withdrawal from the States of power to regulate where the activity regulated was a merely peripheral concern of the Labor Management Relations Act. Or where the regulated conduct touched interests so deeply rooted in local feeling and responsibility that, in the absence of compelling congressional direction, we could not infer that Congress had deprived the States of the power to Act. 50 Id. at 243-44, 79 S.Ct. at 779 (citation and footnote omitted). The Court also concluded, however, that [w]hen it is clear or may fairly be assumed that the activities which a State purports to regulate are protected by Sec. 7 of the [NLRA], or constitute an unfair labor practice under Sec. 8, due regard for the federal enactment requires that state jurisdiction must yield. Id. at 244, 79 S.Ct. at 779. 51 Since the Garmon decision, there have been a number of cases in which the Court has commented upon the bounds of the so-called Garmon-preemption doctrine and the exceptions to the exclusive primary competence of the [NLRB], id. at 245, 79 S.Ct. at 779, identified by the Garmon Court. See, e.g., Farmer v. United Bhd. of Carpenters & Joiners, 430 U.S. 290, 97 S.Ct. 1056, 51 L.Ed.2d 338 (1977); Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. San Diego County Dist. Council of Carpenters, 436 U.S. 180, 98 S.Ct. 1745, 56 L.Ed.2d 209 (1978); Belknap, Inc. v. Hale, 463 U.S. 491, 103 S.Ct. 3172, 77 L.Ed.2d 798 (1983); Brown v. Hotel & Restaurant Employees, 468 U.S. 491, 104 S.Ct. 3179, 82 L.Ed.2d 373 (1984); Allis-Chalmers Corp. v. Lueck, 471 U.S. 202, 105 S.Ct. 1904, 85 L.Ed.2d 206 (1985); International Longshoremen's Ass'n v. Davis, 476 U.S. 380, 106 S.Ct. 1904, 90 L.Ed.2d 389 (1986). These decisions have not always been easy to apply. See, e.g., Amalgamated Ass'n of Street, Elec. Ry. & Motor Coach Employees v. Lockridge, 403 U.S. 274, 285, 91 S.Ct. 1909, 1917, 29 L.Ed.2d 473 (1971) (examining the arguments made against NLRB preemption because of the understandable confusion, perhaps in some measure attributable to the previous opinions of this Court, they reflect over the jurisdictional bases upon which the Garmon doctrine rests). In its recent decision in International Longshoremen's Association v. Davis, 476 U.S. 380, 106 S.Ct. 1904, 90 L.Ed.2d 389 (1986), however, the court clarified the nature of Garmon-preemption. It is now settled law that Garmon-preemption is a jurisdictional doctrine based on the presumed intent of Congress that the NLRB should generally exercise jurisdiction over cases falling within sections 7 and 8 of the NLRA. Id. at 391, 106 S.Ct. at 1912. 52 [W]hen a state proceeding or regulation is claimed to be pre-empted by the NLRA under Garmon, the issue is a choice-of-forum rather than a choice-of-law question. As such, it is a question whether the State or Board has jurisdiction over the dispute. If there is pre-emption under Garmon, then state jurisdiction is extinguished. 53 Id. (footnote omitted). 54 It is also clear that the Garmon analysis is not one to be undertaken by the lower federal courts. A claim of Garmon pre-emption is a claim that the state court has no power to adjudicate the subject matter of the case, and when a claim of Garmon-preemption is raised, it must be considered and resolved by the state court. Id. at 393, 106 S.Ct. at 1913 (emphasis added). If the state court errs in determining whether Garmon principles deprive it of jurisdiction over a dispute, review of that decision may be had in the Supreme Court. See, e.g., Davis, 476 U.S. at 388-89, 106 S.Ct. at 1911 (concluding that Garmon-preemption always supplies a federal question for the Court to review on appeal); 6 cf. Franchise Tax Bd., 463 U.S. at 12 n. 12, 103 S.Ct. at 2848 n. 12. 55 The Supreme Court has not yet expressly considered whether a state claim alleged to be preempted by the NLRA under the Garmon analysis may be removed to federal court. But there is dicta in two recent cases addressing labor law removal issues which strongly suggest that Garmon cases are not removable. In Merrell Dow, the Court criticized the defendants' argument that there should be removal jurisdiction because of the need to ensure uniform interpretation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C. Secs. 301 et seq. 56 To the extent that petitioner is arguing that state use and interpretation of the FDCA pose a threat to the order and stability of the FDCA regime, petitioner should be arguing, not that federal courts should be able to review and enforce state FDCA-based causes of action as an aspect of federal-question jurisdiction, but that the FDCA pre-empts state-court jurisdiction over the issue in dispute. 57 Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc. v. Thompson, 478 U.S. 804, 106 S.Ct. 3229, 3236-37, 92 L.Ed.2d 650 (1986). In support of this statement, the Court cited its decision in International Longshoremen's Association v. Davis, 476 U.S. 380, 106 S.Ct. 1904, 90 L.Ed.2d 389 (1986), which held that Garmon-preemption is a jurisdictional doctrine. See Merrell Dow, 106 S.Ct. at 3237 n. 13. A reasonable implication from the Court's statement in Merrell Dow, then, is that Garmon-preemption is not an aspect of federal-question jurisdiction. Rather, Garmon-preemption is a jurisdictional issue that should be addressed by the state courts. 58 More telling, however, is the Supreme Court's recent decision in Caterpillar, Inc. v. Williams, 482 U.S. 386, 107 S.Ct. 2425, 96 L.Ed.2d 318 (1987), in which the Court affirmed our Caterpillar decision, 786 F.2d 928 (9th Cir.1986). It was in footnote 3 of our Caterpillar case that we theorized that the NLRA and Garmon-preemption may provide a unique basis for removal jurisdiction for the limited purpose of protecting the exclusive jurisdiction of the NLRB. See 786 F.2d at 934 n. 3. Significantly, although the Court did not expressly disavow our speculation in footnote 3, its analysis strongly undercuts our augury. Caterpillar arose in the context of section 301 of the LMRA, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 185(a), which Caterpillar incorrectly asserted permitted the exercise of removal jurisdiction over a case involving individual employment contracts made by parties who later take positions covered by a collective bargaining agreement. See id. 107 S.Ct. at 2431-32. In rejecting several of Caterpillar's arguments for removal jurisdiction, the Court explained: 59 [I]f an employer wishes to dispute the continued legality or viability of a pre-existing employment contract because an employee has taken a position covered by a collective bargaining agreement, it may raise this question in state court. The employer may argue that the individual employment contract has been pre-empted due to the principle of exclusive representation in Sec. 9(a) of the [NLRA]. 60 Id. at 2432. The court then stated in language plainly directed to the suggestion in our footnote 3: 61 Or the employer may contend [in state court] that enforcement of the individual employment contract arguably would constitute an unfair labor practice under the NLRA, and is therefore pre-empted. The fact that a defendant might ultimately prove that a plaintiff's claims are pre-empted under the NLRA does not establish that they are removable to federal court. 62 Id. (citation and footnote omitted; emphasis added). Finally, although the Court expressed no view on the merits of any of the pre-emption arguments discussed above, id. at 2433 n. 13, the Court also was careful to observe, These [preemption arguments] are questions that must be addressed in the first instance by the state court in which respondents filed their claims. Id. (emphasis added). 63 Based upon the foregoing, we think it is now clear that state law actions claimed to be preempted by sections 7 and 8 of the NLRA are not removable to federal court. 7 As we have previously stated, there can be no removal jurisdiction unless the plaintiff could have commenced the action in federal court. Even if Ethridge had filed his claim for retaliatory discharge in federal court using a complaint expressly relying on sections 7 and 8 of the NLRA, there would have been no subject matter jurisdiction. Though sections 7 and 8 may create a federal cause of action, it is not within the federal court's jurisdiction to resolve the dispute--it is for the NLRB to decide the case. Accordingly, the district court should have remanded the action to state court under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1447(c). See Williams v. City of Atlanta, 794 F.2d 624, 628 (11th Cir.1986) (explaining that an action removed without jurisdiction must be remanded to state court). 64 Nothing in the history of the Garmon doctrine suggests that state courts are incapable of determining their own jurisdiction. Indeed, the Supreme Court made absolutely clear in its Davis decision that the Garmon-preemption analysis is one that the state courts are to undertake in the first instance. Moreover, practical experience with this jurisdictional framework shows that state courts are fully cognizant of the limits on their jurisdiction when an activity actually or arguably falls within sections 7 and 8. See, e.g., Henry v. Intercontinental Radio, Inc., 155 Cal.App.3d 707, 202 Cal.Rptr. 328 (1984) (dismissing complaint because causes of action alleged by plaintiff were within the exclusive jurisdiction of the NLRB). 65 We also note that none of our prior decisions is contrary to this position. Buscemi v. McDonnell Douglas Corp., 736 F.2d 1348 (9th Cir.1984), does not require a different result, even though that case upheld the district court's dismissal of a removed complaint stating claims within the exclusive jurisdiction of the NLRB. See id. at 1350. In Buscemi, the district court dismissed the complaint when it decided that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction. Buscemi argued on appeal that the court had jurisdiction. Id. Consequently, we did not consider whether dismissal or remand was the appropriate remedy once a court correctly concludes it lacks jurisdiction over a removed complaint. 66 In Stallcop v. Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, 820 F.2d 1044, 1047 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 108 S.Ct. 504, 98 L.Ed.2d 502 (1987), we said that there was removal jurisdiction over a state action for breach of the duty of fair representation by a labor union. We upheld removal jurisdiction because such a claim must be based on federal labor law, section 8(b)(1)(A) of the [NLRA]. Id. This statement was made, however, against the backdrop of the Supreme Court's decision in Vaca v. Sipes in which the Court had held that, notwithstanding the NLRB's exclusive jurisdiction over actions under section 8 of the NLRA, federal courts have jurisdiction over claims for breach of the duty of fair representation. See Vaca v. Sipes, 386 U.S. 171, 87 S.Ct. 903, 17 L.Ed.2d 842 (1967). 67 In Survival Systems v. United States District Court, 825 F.2d 1416 (9th Cir.1987), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 108 S.Ct. 774, 98 L.Ed.2d 861 (1988), we implicitly assumed claims preempted by the NLRA are removable to federal court. But the precise issue we considered was whether a writ of mandamus should issue to prevent a district court from remanding a case to state court once the basis for federal jurisdiction has been dismissed. Id. at 1418. Finally, in Vincent v. Trend Western Technical Corp., 828 F.2d 563 (9th Cir.1987), we explained that if the plaintiff was discharged for engaging in a protected concerted activity, his complaint was within the exclusive jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Board and was properly dismissed. Id. at 566. However, in Vincent, the retaliatory discharge claim was added by the plaintiff after his complaint had been removed from state court. Thus, we had no occasion to consider in that case the appropriate way to handle a complaint sought to be removed from state court on the basis of NLRA-preemption. 68 On the other hand, there are decisions of this court, and of district courts in this circuit and outside it, which support the decision we announce today. In Paige v. Henry J. Kaiser Co., 826 F.2d 857 (9th Cir.1987), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 108 S.Ct. 2819, 100 L.Ed.2d 921 (1988), we discussed the Garmon-preemption doctrine and observed that if a claim is preempted under Garmon analysis, it is the NLRB, not the courts, which has jurisdiction. Id. at 862; see also Machinists Automotive Trades Dist. Lodge No. 190 v. Peterbilt Motors Co., 666 F.Supp. 1352, 1355-56 (N.D.Cal.1987); Dow Chem. Co. v. District 50 Allied & Tech. Workers, 315 F.Supp. 427, 429-30 (D.Colo.1970). This is precisely our point--federal district courts have no jurisdiction to decide the merits of a claim within the NLRB's exclusive jurisdiction. If these courts have no original jurisdiction, they certainly do not have removal jurisdiction.