Frank Chmiel v. Beverly Wilshire Hotel Company Regent International Hotels, Ltd.

Frank Chmiel appeals from the order of the district court denying his motion to remand to state court and granting the Beverly Wilshire Hotel Co. (BWHC) and the Regent International Hotels, Ltd. (RIH) motions to dismiss.

Chmiel contends that the case was improperly removed. He argues that each of the causes of action alleged in his complaint was created by state law and was not completely preempted by section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA), 29 U.S.C. § 185 (a) (1982).

I.

Chmiel was employed by BWHC as a bellman in the Beverly Wilshire Hotel from 1956 to 1985. He was a member of Local 11 of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union, AFL-CIO, (Union). The terms of his employment were governed by a collective bargaining agreement negotiated between the Union and the Hotel-Restaurant Employers Council of Southern California (Council). The collective bargaining agreement specified that employees could be terminated only upon “just cause,” and established grievance procedures for “controversies pertaining to the application or interpretation” of the agreement.

In 1985, RIH acquired BWHC. RIH and the Union negotiated a sideletter agreement in which RIH…