Mungo

Appellants Alba Mungo, Elie Atallah and Ferdinand Wessel challenge the partial dismissal of their lawsuit against respondents, their former employer UTA French Airlines and its corporate officer, Michel Taillard. They also appeal an order that their counsel pay $500 to counsel for respondents.

All three appellants were employed as sales representatives by respondent airline. They were not union members, nor were they subject to a collective bargaining agreement. Appellants were discharged on November 15, 1979. Their suit alleged that they were discharged without cause and in breach of respondents’ promise not to discharge them without good cause. Mungo and Wessel brought an additional cause of action under California Labor Code section 1050. On the grounds that labor disputes between carriers and employees are governed by the Railway Labor Act (RLA), and that the RLA preempts state jurisdiction, the trial court found that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the wrongful discharge causes of action.

Discussion

The RLA, 45 United States Code section 153 First (i), “provides that ‘disputes between an employee . . . and a carrier . . . growing out of grievances or…