Opinion ID: 198821
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Federal Enforcement Scheme

Text: 29 The Tompkinses contend that causes of action based on state human rights legislation are not preempted by ERISA pursuant to the Supreme Court's decision in Shaw v. Delta Air Lines, Inc., 463 U.S. 85 (1983). 7 In Shaw, the state of New York argued that the New York Human Rights Law, which required employers to pay pregnancy leave to employees, was exempted from preemption by ERISA § 514(d), 29 U.S.C. § 1144(d), which provides that [n]othing in this subchapter shall be construed to alter, amend, modify, invalidate, impair, or supersede any law of the United States. This was so, New York argued, because the New York Human Rights Law was a necessary part of Title VII's overall enforcement scheme, and hence within ERISA's federal law exemption from preemption. See 463 U.S. at 100-01, 103 S.Ct. 2890. 30 The Court acknowledged that State laws obviously play a significant role in the enforcement of Title VII, and that Title VII requires recourse to available state administrative remedies. Id. at 101. Given the importance of state fair employment laws to the federal enforcement scheme, pre-emption of the [New York] Human Rights Law would impair Title VII to the extent that the Human Rights Law provides a means of enforcing Title VII's commands. Id. at 102 (emphasis added). The Court concluded, however, that the practices made unlawful under the New York Human Rights Law--failing to pay benefits for pregnancy leave--were not unlawful under Title VII. Thus, it fail[ed] to see how federal law would be impaired by pre-emption of a state law prohibiting conduct that federal law permitted. Id. at 103-04. The Court therefore concluded that pre-emption would not impair Title VII within the meaning of § 514(d). Id. at 103. 31 The Tompkinses assert correctly that Shaw's reasoning applies to the case at bar. We have held that the ADA, like Title VII, contemplates that state laws will contribute to the overall federal enforcement regime. See Carparts Distrib. Ctr., Inc. v. Automotive Wholesaler's Ass'n, 37 F.3d 12, 20-21 (1st Cir. 1994). Thus, if the Tompkinses' state statutory claims targeted conduct unlawful under the ADA, those state claims would be exempt from ERISA preemption pursuant to ERISA § 514(d). See Shaw, 463 U.S. at 102-04; Carparts, 37 F.3d at 20-21 (vacating dismissal of state law claims on grounds that they might be found exempt from ERISA preemption as part of the ADA's enforcement scheme). However, we have already concluded that the Tompkinses have failed to state a claim under the ADA. Under these circumstances, because the plaintiffs do not contest the district court's finding that their state law claims relate to the United health benefits plan, and because the ADA's enforcement regime does not depend on the availability of the state statutory claims, the state claims are subject to ERISA preemption.