Opinion ID: 461410
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Dismissal of Fraudulent Misrepresentation Claim

Text: 20 Appellant amended her original complaint to include a claim of fraudulent misrepresentation. In Count II of her first amended complaint appellant alleged that the appellee fraudulently induced her to accept a permanent assignment to the CSR position with knowledge that she was not qualified for the position. 21 The district court dismissed the claim for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The district court found that appellant's misrepresentation claim was a state common law claim that is superseded by application of national labor law. Because it found that appellant's misrepresentation claim arose from her contract rights pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement between the appellee and appellant's union, the court concluded that appellee's conduct was arguably protected activity under section 157 of the NLRA, or arguably prohibited as an unfair labor practice under section 158 and not within either of the two exceptions to the federal preemption doctrine. The district court relied on Moore v. General Motors Corp., 739 F.2d 311 (8th Cir.1984), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 105 S.Ct. 2320, 85 L.Ed.2d 839 (1985) in which this court found that an employee's cause of action for fraudulent misrepresentation against her employer, GM, was preempted because the rights on which Moore based her claims arose from the collective bargaining agreement. Id. at 316. 22 Subsequent to the district court's dismissal of appellant's misrepresentation claim, the United States Supreme Court stated unequivocally that when the judicial resolution of a state law claim in a civil action is substantially dependent upon analysis of the terms of an agreement made between parties to a labor contract, such a claim must either be treated as a cause of action under section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 185(a), or dismissed as preempted by federal labor law. Allis-Chalmers Corporation v. Lueck, --- U.S. ----, 105 S.Ct. 1904, 85 L.Ed.2d 206 (1985). In an opinion for a unanimous court Justice Blackmun wrote: 23 [t]hus, questions relating to what the parties to a labor agreement agreed, and what legal consequences were intended to flow from breaches of that agreement, must be resolved by reference to uniform federal law, whether such questions arise in the context of a suit for breach of contract or in a suit alleging liability in tort. 24 Id. 105 S.Ct. at 1911 (emphasis added). 25 The relevant inquiry here must be whether the district court was correct to construe appellant's misrepresentation claim as arising from her contract rights pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement. If evaluation of her tort claim is intertwined with consideration of the terms of the labor contract, it seems clear that the holdings of Allis-Chalmers and Moore require this court to affirm the district court's dismissal. See 105 S.Ct. at 1912; 739 F.2d at 317. 26 The substance of appellant's misrepresentation claim is that the appellee fraudulently induced her to accept the CSR position with the knowledge that she was not qualified. Appellant further alleged she accepted the permanent assignment to the CSR position in reliance on the appellee's representation that she was qualified and thereby foreclosed her rights to remain secure in her employment because she was not given the opportunity to return to her former job (i.e. disqualified). A collective bargaining agreement exists between appellant's union and the appellee. It seems clear that appellant's claim turns on the application of appellee's bid procedure, training procedure, and disqualification procedure, all of which are subject to grievance under the collective bargaining agreement. Appellant's asserted right to be disqualified rather than discharged and the appellee's alleged duty to do so arise from the collective bargaining agreement. We have carefully considered this matter and find that we are in agreement with the district court that appellant's misrepresentation claim arises from contract rights. See Moore, supra, 739 F.2d at 316-17. Under these circumstances, appellant's misrepresentation claim was properly dismissed.