Anthony W. Karambelas v. Hughes Aircraft Company

Anthony W. Karambelas appeals from the district court’s order which dismissed his complaint for wrongful termination against Hughes Areraft Company (Hughes) with prejudice. Karambelas had filed his complaint in the California Superior Court, but Hughes removed it to the district court. Karambelas claims, among other things, that the district court did not have removal jurisdiction. We agree, reverse the district court’s decision, and remand to that court with instructions to remand the case to the California Superior Court.

BACKGROUND

Karambelas is an attorney and was in-house Assistant General Counsel for Hughes. He was in charge of overseeing patent litigation in which the company was represented by outside counsel. During his watch, a settlement was reached in certain patent litigation, and Hughes gave a general release to Ford Aerospace & Communications Corp. (Ford). That release not only covered Ford, but also covered Ford’s customers. The result of the extended coverage was that certain claims against the United States were dismissed. That potentially cost Hughes millions of dollars. Hughes believed that the breadth of the release was a legal error that never should have…