Opinion ID: 518933
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: State Defamation Claim.

Text: 34 Appellants' defamation argument is similarly preempted by Sec. 301; furthermore, it is meritless. Neither the complaint nor the appellate brief allege specific facts to support this defamation claim--i.e., what documents or statements were defamatory, or to whom the defamatory information was published. The claim appears to rest on the Notices of Intent to Discipline, which, along with the discharge notices, are the only documents in the record containing the allegations of wrongdoing. 35 The CBA requires employers to notify employees of intended disciplinary action in writing, and simultaneously to notify their Union. 3 Any claim based on the discharge notification is, therefore, inextricably intertwined with the CBA. The instant case is distinguishable from Tellez v. Pacific Gas and Elec. Co., 817 F.2d 536 (9th Cir.) cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 108 S.Ct. 251, 98 L.Ed.2d 209 (1987), where the employee's non-preempted defamation claim was based on his manager's sending copies of his discharge letter, which stated that he was observed purchasing cocaine, to eleven other PG & E managers. Also, as the Tellez panel pointed out, Tellez's CBA contained no provisions requiring written notification of suspension. 817 F.2d at 538. 4 36