Joe Stiffarm v. Burlington Northern Railroad Company, a Delaware Corporation

81 F.3d 170 NOTICE: Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3 provides that dispositions other than opinions or orders designated for publication are not precedential and should not be cited except when relevant under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, or collateral estoppel. Joe STIFFARM, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. BURLINGTON NORTHERN RAILROAD COMPANY, a Delaware corporation, Defendant-Appellee. No. 95-35136. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted Feb. 7, 1996. Decided April 1, 1996. Before: WRIGHT, HALL and TROTT, Circuit Judges. 1 MEMORANDUM * 2 In this case we are concerned with two preemption questions. We must decide whether either the Railway Labor Act or the Federal Employers Liability Act preempts a railroad employee's state-law claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress. We also consider several issues arising from the trial of the employee's non-preempted claims. I. Preemption Issues 3 The district court ruled that the Railway Labor Act preempted Stiffarm's claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress. We hold that this decision was wrong, but we affirm because the Federal Employers' Liability Act preempts the state-law claim.…