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Batson v. Shiflett3/12/1992
air labor practice claim and a state tort claim.
The petitioners contend that the issue of improper ratification of Local 33/Bethlehem contract was prohibited by § 8 of the NLRA and within the NLRB's exclusive
jurisdiction, and therefore, no other tribunal had the authority to hear a case resolving the question of ratification. We agree. The facts of this case, however, do not fit that characterization. The jury in this case resolved the issues of defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress, not that of illegal contract ratification.
The petitioners, further, assert that here a state jury was required to decide factual issues identical to factual issues that had already been fully adjudicated by the NLRB, and that in order for there to be a state cause of action, the jury had to resolve those issues contrary to the way they were resolved by the Board. What the National Union and Batson fail to understand is that the issues before the jury were completely different from the issues before the administrative law judge. The conduct giving rise to the torts occurred after the administrative hearing and was not the same conduct which formed the basis of the unfair labor practice charges. In Flyer No. 3, the National Union and Batson accused Shiflett of committing the "crimes of conspiracy, perjury, falsification of records." At trial, Shiflett introduced evidence to establish that these statements were false, defamatory and made with actual malice. In contrast, the issue before the administrative law judge and the focus of that proceeding concerned whether Local 33 had authority to negotiate and reach a binding agreement with Bethlehem. The jury did not have to decide this issue. Whether the National Union and Batson's statements that Shiflett committed "crimes" defamed Shiflett or whether their conduct caused Shiflett severe emotional distress played no role in the disposition of the NLRB case. In summary, since the focus of each proceeding was different, the state tort claims were not preempted.
It is inconsequential that some of the evidence introduced at the trial was similar to evidence introduced at the hearing before the administrative law judge. This would be true with virtually every state proceeding arising out of a labor dispute.
"The determination of potential interference require a more searching comparison than merely the factual bases of each controversy. Cf. [ Local 926, Intern. Union of Operating Engineers ] Jones, 460 U.S. at 689, 103 S.Ct. at 1465 [75 L.Ed.2d 368 (1983)] (Rehnquist, J., dissenting) (quoting Farmer v. Carpenters, 430 U.S. 290, 304, 97 S.Ct. 1056, 1065, 51 L.Ed.2d 338 (1977)). The broader inquiry into the controversies [involves] an examination of the interests protected by and relief requested for each claim. See Belknap, 463 U.S. at 510-11, 103 S.Ct. at 3183-84; Sears [, Roebuck and Co. v. San Diego County Dist. Council,] 436 U.S. at 188-89, 198, 98 S.Ct. at 1753, 1758 [56 L.Ed.2d 209 (1978)]."
Windfield v. Groen Div. Dover Corp., 890 F.2d 764, 768 (5th Cir.1989). As the Farmer Court explained, a state court is permitted to consider the same evidence and evaluate the same events and conduct that was or may be the subject of an unfair labor practice proceeding for the purpose of determining whether a tort had been committed. Farmer, 430 U.S. at 304, 97 S.Ct. at 1065, 51 L.Ed.2d at 352-53. Since the concerns, focus, and legal issues in the state court proceeding are different and do not require interpretation of federal labor law, and since the State has an overriding concern in protecting its citizens from defamatory attacks and outrageous conduct, there is no preemption. See Belkn
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