Court Opinion

ID: 9619547
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 05:29:36.492674+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:04:42.069409
License: Public Domain

Schroeder, C.J.,
dissenting: On the particular facts here presented the wage claims asserted by the intervenors before the Kansas Department of Human Resources (KDHR) were preempted.by the action taken by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) which controls the decision in this case. The contention of the intervenors that the activity covered in the *434wage claims presented to the KDHR is not prohibited or protected under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) is without merit for the following reasons.
The wage claim made by the intervenors pursuant to K.S.A. 44-313 et seq., was initially pursued as an unfair labor practice before the NLRB by the labor union which represented the employee intervenors. The unfair labor practice charged was that Whelan’s refused to pay accrued vacation benefits to striking employees in retaliation for their striking activities.
The NLRB asserted its jurisdiction over the unfair labor practice charge. Whelan’s executed a settlement agreement of the unfair labor practice charge agreeing to pay all striking employees their accrued vacation pay at the current reduced wage rate. The settlement agreement was approved by the regional director of the NLRB. Before the settlement agreement was approved, the regional director of the NLRB considered and rejected arguments by the union (representing the employee intervenors) that the vacation pay should have been calculated at the wage rate in existence when the vacation time accrued, which was prior to the wage cuts.
Whelan’s complied with the settlement agreement and on June 18, 1982, the acting regional director of the NLRB advised the union and Whelan’s the terms of the settlement agreement had been carried out and the file was closed. No appeal was taken by the labor union.
By this action the intervenors seek to assert the wage rate issue before the KDHR after the NLRB had previously invoked its jurisdiction, upon the request of the union, and specifically determined the correct wage rate to be applied. Having lost the wage rate issue before the NLRB the intervenors now seek to circumvent the action of their union and proceed in a state action. That they cannot do.
The United States Supreme Court has made it clear that state court jurisdiction is preempted in cases where the NLRB has asserted jurisdiction over claims of unfair labor practices brought under § 8 of the NLRA. The reason for the preemption doctrine, to obtain uniform application of substantive rules and avoid conflicting adjudications, was clearly articulated in Garner v. Teamsters Union, 346 U.S. 485, 498-99, 98 L.Ed. 228, 74 S.Ct. 161 (1953). The court recognized that “when two separate rem*435edies [i.e., state and federal] are brought to bear on the same activity, a conflict is imminent.” 346 U.S. at 498-99. Commenting on this language, the court in Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Carpenters, 436 U.S. 180, 193-94, 56 L.Ed.2d 209, 98 S.Ct. 1745 (1978), stated:
“This reasoning has its greatest force when applied to state laws regulating the relations between employees, their union, and their employer. It may also apply to certain laws of general applicability which are occasionally invoked in connection with a labor dispute. ... In each case, the pertinent inquiry is whether the two potentially conflicting statutes were ‘brought to bear on precisely the same conduct.’ ” (Emphasis added.)
In San Diego Unions v. Garmon, 359 U.S. 236, 244-45, 3 L.Ed.2d 775, 79 S.Ct. 773 (1959), the court recognized exceptions to the federal preemption doctrine where the activity complained of was merely a peripheral concern of the NLRA or touched interests so deeply rooted in local feeling and responsibility that it could not be inferred that Congress has deprived the States of the power to act. Emphasized throughout the court’s decision is the necessity to avoid potential conflicts between state and federal regulatory schemes. At one point the court states, “In determining the extent to which state regulation must yield to subordinating federal authority, we have been concerned with delimiting areas of potential conflict; potential conflict of rules of law, of remedy, and of administration.” 359 U.S. at 241-42. The court later stated:
“The governing consideration is that to allow the States to control activities that are potentially subject to federal regulation involves too great a danger of conflict with national labor policy.” 359 U.S. at 246.
Of particular relevance to the case at hand is this final note of caution:
“It may be that an award of damages in a particular situation will not, in fact, conflict with the active assertion of federal authority. The same may be true of the incidence of a particular state injunction. To sanction either involves a conflict with federal policy in that it involves allowing two law-making sources to govern. In fact, since remedies form an ingredient of any integrated scheme of regulation, to allow the State to grant a remedy here which has been withheld from the National Labor Relations Board only accentuates the danger of conflict.” (Emphasis added.) 395 U.S. at 247.
Subsequent Supreme Court cases have reiterated that concurrent state court jurisdiction cannot be permitted where there is a realistic threat of interference with the federal regulatory *436scheme. See Farmer v. Carpenters, 430 U.S. 290, 305, 51 L.Ed.2d 338, 97 S.Ct. 1056 (1977).
In Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Carpenters, 436 U.S. 180, the Supreme Court broadened the scope of the authority to be exercised by state courts where trespassory picketing occurs in the course of a labor dispute. Of major importance in that case was the fact that the employer, Sears, was powerless to obtain a labor board ruling on whether the union trespass was federally protected. Such board determination could have been obtained only if the union had filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the NLRB. The court again stressed that the factor of primary concern is whether there is a risk that state action will interfere with the jurisdiction of the NLRB. At one point the court stated:
“The primary-jurisdiction rationale unquestionably requires that when the same controversy may be presented to the state court or the NLRB, it must be presented to the Board. [Emphasis added.] But that rationale does not extend to cases in which an employer has no acceptable method of invoking, or inducing the Union to invoke, the jurisdiction of the Board. We are therefore persuaded that the primary-jurisdiction rationale does not provide a sufficient justification for preempting state jurisdiction over arguably protected conduct when the party who could have presented the protection issue to the Board has not done so and the other party to the dispute has no acceptable means of doing so.” 436 U.S. at 202-03.
The court emphasized this was not a case where the controversy presented to the state court could have been, but was not, presented to the labor board. Because Sears had no method available to it to invoke the jurisdiction of the NLRB and the union had not filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the board, there was no risk of overlapping jurisdiction or conflicting adjudications in this case.
In the past the Kansas Supreme Court has broadly applied the federal preemption doctrine enunciated in Garmon in determining whether state courts have jurisdiction to hear cases involving labor disputes. See, e.g., Reece Shirley & Ron's Inc. v. Retail Store Employees Union & Local 782 (Reece Shirley I), 222 Kan. 373, 565 P.2d 585 (1977), vacated and remanded 436 U.S. 924 (1978), affirmed as modified 225 Kan. 470, 592 P.2d 433 (1979) (Reece Shirley II); Inland Industries, Inc. v. Teamsters & Chauffeurs Local Union, 209 Kan. 349, 352-54, 496 P.2d 1327 (1972). In so doing, the court has exhibited a marked reluctance *437to apply the exceptions to the preemption doctrine set forth in Garmon where the issue is arguably within the scope of the NLRB’s jurisdiction or there is potential for conflict between the state and federal forums. In Inland Industries, 209 Kan. at 353-54, the court stated:
“If it is arguable, as we believe it is, that the activity falls within the prohibition of the Act, Congress has seen to it that the determination of that question lies within the Board’s broad bosom. Any action by the state in such respect is a complete ‘no-no.’ The United States Supreme Court has been very emphatic in elucidating this point of view.”
In Reece Shirley II, 225 Kan. 470, the court narrowly construed the holding in Sears, emphasizing that where the same controversy may be presented to the state court or the NLRB, it must be presented to the board. 225 Kan. at 475. The court held that in cases where an employer seeks to enjoin picketing activities, where the union files a complaint with the NLRB and the board takes jurisdiction, the state court has the power to enjoin trespassory picketing only where there is a threat of violence or some obstruction to the free use of property by the public. 225 Kan. at 476.
The decisions in Garmon, Farmer and Sears, relied on in the majority opinion, are of questionable application in cases such as this one where the NLRB has exercised its jurisdiction, upon the request of the union, over the specific issue which is now being asserted in the state forum. Garmon involved a situation where an arguably prohibited act had been committed, but the NLRB declined to exercise its jurisdiction because of an insubstantial effect on interstate commerce. In Farmer it was held the state could properly assume jurisdiction over a tort action where, although the arguable federal violation and the alleged state tort arose out of the same factual situation, the respective controversies presented to the state and federal forums would not have been the same and there was little, if any, threat of interference with the federal regulatory scheme. The Sears case created an exception to the preemption rule discussed in Garmon which applies in cases where, although the activity may be arguably protected under the NLRA, no party has filed an unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB and the party seeking redress from the state forum is unable to invoke the jurisdiction of the Board.
*438The instant case departs from the situations involved in Garmon, Farmer and Sears, insofar as the board exercised its jurisdiction over the unfair labor practices claim asserted by the union and specifically determined the wage rate issue which is now asserted by the intervenors before the KDHR. The activity complained about — the failure to pay accrued vacation benefits and the rate at which such is to be paid — is the subject matter of both proceedings. The intervenors are attempting to pursue two separate remedies, federal and state, arising out of the same activity by the employer. The Supreme Court has often recognized that conflict in such cases is imminent. In Garmon the court clearly warned that to allow the state to grant a remedy which has been withheld by the NLRB only accentuates the danger of conflict. This is such a case. The intervenors assert the identical wage rate issue here which they raised in the unfair labor practice proceeding before the NLRB. By filing the wage claim before the KDHR the union and intervenors are merely attempting to circumvent the labor board’s specific determination on the issue of the appropriate wage rate to be paid for the accrued vacation benefits. The NLRB determined the employer lawfully computed the rate at which accrued vacation time was paid under the settlement agreement. If the KDHR approves a wage rate different from that approved by the labor board, it will directly conflict with the remedy allowed by the labor board in the unfair labor practice proceeding. The decision in this case has the effect of allowing the KDHR to overrule the decision of the NLRB on the wage rate determination. Under the preemption doctrine enunciated in Garmon, such a direct conflict between federal and state forums cannot be sanctioned by this court. Once the NLRB has assumed jurisdiction and made a determination on this specific issue its exclusive jurisdiction cannot be ousted by a proceeding on the same issue in a state forum.
The majority’s view, that the wage rate claim is merely a peripheral concern to the unfair labor practice claim, too narrowly limits the jurisdiction and authority of the NLRB to determine issues relating to labor disputes. At first blush, the unfair labor practice claim and wage rate issue may appear to be two separate and distinct actions. However, when the actions are examined for the result they both seek, the distinction vanishes. *439Both an action under the NLRB and one under the Kansas Wage Act seek payment of vacation benefits. Of even greater importance, the majority opinion overlooks the fact that in this case the wage rate issue was specifically argued before the NLRB and that board expressly determined that the correct rate was applied by Whelan’s in calculating vacation benefits due. The United States Supreme Court has made it clear that caution should be exercised in approving state court jurisdiction over labor disputes where conflict, actual or potential, between federal and state forums is apparent. In the past this court has expressed its disapproval of the involvement of a state forum in labor disputes where the NLRB has assumed jurisdiction in the dispute. Under the Garmon test, which strictly favors preemption, the action in this case is preempted by the action of the NLRB on the wage rate issue.
It is respectfully submitted the judgment of the lower court should be affirmed.
McFarland, J., joins the foregoing dissenting opinion.