Thomas Falahee v. Heide and Cook, Ltd.

MEMORANDUM

Plaintiff-Appellant Thomas Falahee appeals the district court’s dismissal of his wrongful termination suit on the grounds that Falahee, whose employment with De fendants-Appellees was governed by a collective bargaining agreement (CBA), failed to exhaust the CBA’s grievance procedures. Falahee also appeals the district court’s denial of his motion to remand this action, which Defendants removed from state court on the grounds that Falahee’s claims are completely preempted by the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA), 29 U.S.C. § 185 . We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

Removal of this action was proper because Falahee’s state law claims are preempted by § 301 of the LMRA, 29 U.S.C. § 185 (a). “The pre-emptive force of § 301 is so powerful as to displace entirely any state cause of action ‘for violation of contracts between an employer and a labor organization.’ ” Balcorta v. Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp., 208 F.3d 1102, 1107 (9th Cir.2000) (quoting Franchise Tax Bd. of Cal. v. Construction Laborers Vacation Trust for S. Cal, 463 U.S. 1, 23 , 103 S.Ct. 2841 , 77 L.Ed.2d 420 (1983)). A cause of action is not preempted by the LMRA only if it…