Procedural Posture

Plaintiff employee sought review of a decision of the Superior Court of Sonoma County (California), which granted summary judgment in favor of defendant employer in plaintiff's wrongful termination complaint.

California Business Lawyer & Corporate Lawyer, Inc. can explain more about Doctors Note for Work Law

Overview

After defendant employer terminated plaintiff employee's job, plaintiff alleged causes of action for wrongful termination in violation of public policy, breach of an implied contract, and breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Defendant argued that the claims were preempted by federal law. The reviewing court found that certain claims were not preempted. When an activity is arguably prohibited or protected by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), 29 U.S.C.S. § 151 et seq., the state courts must defer to the exclusive competence of the National Labor Relations Board in order to avoid state interference with national labor policy. Here, plaintiff's tort claim for wrongful termination, if proven, would constitute a violation of the NLRA. However, plaintiff's contract based-claims were not preempted because they differed from the claims he could present to the NLRB.

Outcome

A decision that granted summary judgment in favor of defendant employer in plaintiff employee's wrongful termination complaint was affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded because federal labor law did not preempt plaintiff's contract-based claims.