Mark S. Daniels v. Burlington Northern Railroad Company, a Delaware Corporation

Plaintiff-appellant Mark S. Daniels (“Daniels”) was employed by defendant-ap-pellee Burlington Northern Railroad Company ("Burlington Northern”). On November 19, 1987, Burlington Northern terminated Daniels’s employment. Daniels filed an action against Burlington Northern in federal court for constructive fraud and breach of the covenant of good faith arising from his termination. The district court dismissed Daniels’s action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, holding that Daniels had failed to exhaust his administrative remedies under the RLA. The district court subsequently denied Daniels’s motion for reconsideration. We reverse the denial of the motion for reconsideration and remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

Daniels was employed by Burlington Northern. On November 19,1987, Burlington Northern terminated his employment. At the time he was terminated, Daniels was a trainmaster at Burlington Northern’s Laurel, Montana yard. As a terminal trainmaster, Daniels supervised yardmasters, switch crews, dispatchers, and numerous other Burlington Northern employees. Daniels contends on appeal that he had the authority to hire and dismiss…