Court Opinion

ID: 9657308
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 20:19:42.731024+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:13:43.175555
License: Public Domain

FINE, J.
(concurring). I join in the court’s decision but write separately on the issue of whether the defense of federal pre-emption is waived when it is not raised before the trial court. The court correctly notes that the Wisconsin Supreme Court has held that federal pre-emption is jurisdictional and that the issue may be raised at any time. Chicago & N. W. Ry. v. La Follette, 27 Wis. 2d 505, 512, 135 N.W.2d 269, 273 (1965). The Wisconsin cases, however, do not specifically distinguish between "forum” pre-emption, which goes to the state court’s jurisdiction and may not be waived, and "standards” pre-emption, which applies equally in state or federal court and, according to the rule in other jurisdictions, may be waived. Even though ours is a "standards” pre-emption case, we are bound by Wisconsin Supreme Court precedent.
The doctrine of federal pre-emption rests on the "supremacy clause” of article VI of the United States *627Constitution. International Longshoremen’s Ass’n., AFL-CIO v. Davis, 476 U.S. 380, 388 (1986). That clause provides that the "constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof ... shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, any thing in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding.”
Federal pre-emption is a double-barreled doctrine. First, it can deprive a state court of jurisdiction to hear a particular matter when Congress has "vest[ed] exclusive jurisdiction over [a particular] controversy in another body.” Davis, 476 U.S. at 388. Thus, as Davis explains, "[i]t is clearly within Congress’ powers to establish an exclusive federal forum to adjudicate issues of federal law in a particular area that Congress has the authority to regulate under the Constitution.” Id. When Congress specifies an exclusive federal forum, "state jurisdiction is extinguished.” Id. at 391. Since a court’s subject matter jurisdiction may not be conferred by the parties, "forum” pre-emption is not waivable. Moreland Corp. v. Retail Store Employees Union, 16 Wis. 2d 499, 502, 114 N.W.2d 876, 878 (1962).
The second barrel of pre-emption is Congress’ power to "lay down a substantive rule of law to be enforced by any tribunal competent to apply law generally to the parties,” state or federal. Garner v. Teamsters, 346 U.S. 485, 490 (1953); see also Kaski v. First Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass’n of Madison, 72 Wis. 2d 132, 140-42, 240 N.W.2d 367, 372-73 (1976). This "standards” pre-emption "is ordinarily a federal defense to the plaintiffs suit,” Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. v. Taylor, 107 S. Ct. 1542, 1546 (1987), and will be waived if not asserted in the trial court. Hughes v.
*628Blue Cross of N. Calif., 245 Cal. Rptr. 273, 282 (Ct. App. 1988), review granted, 248 Cal. Rptr. 172 (1988) (see California Rules of Court, Rule 976). Hughes’ recognition that a defense based on a rule of law within the ambit of "standards” pre-emption may be waived is consistent with the Wisconsin rule that affirmative defenses may not be raised for the first time on appeal. See Rule 802.06(2), Stats.; Jax v. Jax, 73 Wis. 2d 572, 583-84, 243 N.W.2d 831, 838 (1976); Bushweiler v. Polk County Bank, 129 Wis. 2d 357, 361, 384 N.W.2d 717, 719 (Ct. App. 1986).
As the court here recognizes, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has permitted a "standards” pre-emption-based defense to be raised for the first time on appeal. La Follette, 27 Wis. 2d at 512, 135 N.W.2d at 273. However, the only authority La Follette cites to support that proposition is Moreland, which, however, was a "forum” pre-emption case. LaFolletté’s proposition thus rests on tenuous footings and should be reexamined by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in an appropriate case.