Cesar Galvez v. Carl Kuhn, Anchor Glass, Inc.

With this case, we revisit the field of labor law by asking a familiar question: Are an employee’s claims, in this instance alleging assault and battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress, preempted by Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA)? Familiarity, however, has not bred facility. There is no sure route through the thicket and, as we face this problem anew, we once again must hack our way through the tangled and confusing interplay between federal and state law.

Facts

At the time of the alleged incident, appellant Cesar Galvez, a native of Peru, was employed by Anchor Glass Container Corporation (Anchor), a bottle manufacturing facility in Antioch, California. A member of the union, his terms and conditions of employment were governed by a collective bargaining agreement (CBA). At all relevant times, appellee Carl Cook was the foreman on Galvez’ shift and in that capacity supervised his work.

According to Galvez’ complaint and deposition, for a period of five months prior to the date of the central incident Cook had persistently harassed him in various ways. Things came to a head on the evening of October 28, 1987. Earlier that day, Cook had…