Aloha Airlines, Inc. v. Keith Ahue, and Air Line Pilots Association, International, Intervenor-Appellant

Keith Ahue, the current Director of Labor and Industrial Relations for the State of Hawaii, and the Air Line Pilots Association, International (“ALPA”) appeal the district court’s summary judgment in favor of Aloha Airlines, Inc. (“Aloha”) in Aloha’s action seeking declaratory judgment that Hawaii Payment of Wages Law, Hawaii Revised Statute (“H.R.S.”) § 388-6(6) is preempted by section 514(a) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), 29 U.S.C. § 1144 (a). Ahue also appeals the district court’s determination that H.R.S. § 388-6(6) is not a generally applicable criminal law of a state under ERISA § 514(b)(4), 29 U.S.C. § 1144 (b)(4), which saves such laws from ERISA preemption. We have jurisdiction over this appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we now affirm.

We review the district court’s grant of summary judgment de novo. Greany v. Western Farm Bureau Life Ins. Co., 973 F.2d 812, 816 (9th Cir.1992). We also review de novo the district court’s interpretation and application of ERISA provisions and its determination that ERISA preempts a state law. Ruocco v. Bateman, Eichler, Hill, Richards, Inc., 903 F.2d 1232, 1235-36 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 498…