 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Taylor v. Lockheed Martin Corporation11/17/2003
CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION
Does an arbitration decision under a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) have preclusive effect in a civil suit for retaliatory discharge under Labor Code section 6310, subdivision (b)? We conclude it does not, unless (1) the CBA clearly and unmistakably provided for binding arbitration of the employee's statutory claim under the Labor Code, and (2) the arbitration was conducted in a manner that allowed for a full litigation and fair adjudication of the Labor Code claim. In this case, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of an employer after determining that the employee's claim under section 6310 was collaterally estopped by a labor arbitrator's decision that the employee was terminated for good cause. This was error, because the CBA was never presented to the court and there was no evidence that it clearly and unmistakably provided for arbitration of the employee's statutory claim. We reverse.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Plaintiff and appellant Walter H. Taylor (Taylor) was employed by defendant and respondent Lockheed Martin Corporation (Lockheed) as a rocket engine mechanic. He was a member of the International Association of Machinists, Local No. 2786. The union had a CBA with Lockheed that provided for the arbitration of employment grievances.
Taylor worked at Lockheed's facilities at Vandenberg Air Force Base for almost 15 years, until he was disciplined for an incident in which he allegedly threatened two fellow employees after a forklift he was driving hit the surface of a missile. He was placed on unpaid leave and informed that he would not be allowed to return to work unless he obtained counseling. Taylor declined to do so and was eventually terminated.
Taylor believed his termination was racially motivated and was in retaliation for an earlier complaint that he had filed with the Division of Occupational Safety and Health of the State Department of Industrial Relations (Cal/OSHA). He filed suit in state court alleging four causes of action against Lockheed: (1) wrongful termination in violation of the public policy found in sections 1102.5 and 6310; (2) retaliatory discharge in violation of sections 1102.5 and 6310; (3) race discrimination in employment in violation of Government Code section 12940; and (4) wrongful termination in violation of public policy under the California Constitution, article I, section 8 (prohibiting race discrimination). Lockheed filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that Taylor's state law claims were barred because they arose on a federal enclave; i.e., an area within a state over which the federal government exercises legislative jurisdiction.
This court reversed in part a superior court order granting summary judgment in favor of Lockheed. (Taylor v. Lockheed Martin Corp. (2000) 78 Cal.App.4th 472.) We concluded that Taylor's claims arose exclusively on the federal enclave of Vandenberg Air Force Base and that consequently, his suit was governed by the law of that enclave. (Id. at pp. 479-481.) The law of a federal enclave includes federal law, state law that was in effect when the state ceded power to the federal government and which is not inconsistent with federal law, and subsequently enacted state law that has been expressly extended to the enclave by an act of Congress. (Id. at pp. 481-482.) Taylor's claims for race discrimination under Government Code section 12940 and for wrongful termination in violation of public policy did not fall into any of these categories, making summary judgment appropriate on three of his four causes of action. (Id. at pp. 482, 486.) But we held that Taylor could pursue his remaining statutory claim for retaliato
Page 1 2 3 4 California Employee Leasing Services
Employee Leasing Services
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|