Whitehurst v. 1199seiu United Healthcare Workers E.
Opinion
*204 Plaintiff-Appellant Helen Whitehurst appeals from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Ross, J. ), dismissing her complaint with prejudice. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the judgment of the District Court.
BACKGROUND
Staten Island University Hospital ("the Hospital"), a wholly owned subsidiary of North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System, Inc. ("LIJHS"), 1 hired Whitehurst in 2007 to work as a dispatcher/emergency medical technician. In September 2014, the Hospital offered Whitehurst a different job as a telecommunications operator, which she accepted. Under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement ("CBA") between LIJHS and her union, 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East ("the Union"), Whitehurst was considered a probationary employee for her first 90 days in this new position. On the 10th and 11th of December 2014, Whitehurst nodded off at her work station, which her direct supervisor, Melissa Hamm, noticed on both occasions. At the end of Whitehurst's shift on the 11th, Hamm told Whitehurst that she had failed her probation due to falling asleep at her work station and would therefore be fired.
In 2012, Whitehurst had been diagnosed with severe obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, which causes "excessive somnolence." App. 15 (Complaint ¶ 23). Whitehurst did not inform the Hospital of her condition, however, until after her employment was terminated.
About a month after her termination, Whitehurst, through counsel, sent a letter to the Hospital and the Union, informing them that the termination violated the terms of the CBA. She argued that although the CBA provides that "[a]ny employee who is laterally transferred shall serve the same probationary period on the new job as a new hire," it also states that if such an employee is "removed" from the new position, she will be "returned to the 'former job' if 'vacant,' or to another 'suitable job,' with no loss of seniority," and if she is "discharged," she will be subject to the discharge provisions of the CBA, which require that "cause" be shown for termination. Id. at 26 (quoting the CBA). Whitehurst demanded that cause be shown for her termination and asserted that "principles of progressive discipline" do not support termination "for this most minor of infractions." Id . Additionally, she informed the Hospital and the Union, for the first time, that her two incidents of sleepiness were caused by her sleep apnea.
Whitehurst demanded that the Union file a grievance on her behalf to annul the termination and compel the Hospital to provide her with other suitable employment. The Union at first refused to file a grievance, but ultimately it did so after Whitehurst filed an unfair labor practice complaint against the Union with the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB"). The Hospital denied the grievance, "continu[ing] to claim Plaintiff's status was 'probationary' and thus she could be fired for any reason." Id . at 17 (Complaint ¶ 37). The Union refused to file for arbitration of that denial. Whitehurst appealed the Union's decision to the Union's Hearings and Appeals Board, which affirmed *205 the decision because it determined "there is virtually no likelihood of succeeding in arbitration." Id . at 18 (Complaint ¶ 43). Whitehurst then filed a second complaint with the NLRB alleging that the Union "engaged in a perfunctory effort with respect to the grievance and it improperly failed to pursue arbitration." Id . (Complaint ¶ 46). During the NLRB investigation of this complaint, the Union produced a document listing " 'Sleeping on Hospital Property' as a 'Category 2' offense punishable by suspension or discharge." Id . at 19 (Complaint ¶ 48). The NLRB decided not to discipline the Union as "unions have discretion not to file for arbitration on behalf of a worker." Id . (Complaint ¶ 49).
Whitehurst then sued the Hospital, LIJHS, her direct supervisor Melissa Hamm (collectively, "the hospital defendants"), and the Union in New York state court, alleging disability-based discrimination in violation of the New York City Human Rights Law ("NYCHRL") and the New York State Human Rights Law ("NYSHRL"). The Union removed the case to federal court.
The District Court denied Whitehurst's motion to remand. The District Court determined that Whitehurst's claims against the hospital defendants arose under federal law because they were preempted by § 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act ("LMRA"),
Following the District Court's denial of Whitehurst's motion to remand, the defendants filed motions to dismiss, which the District Court granted. Whitehurst conceded that if the claims were construed as federal claims, then they would be untimely. And because the court had construed her claims as such in its ruling on her motion to remand, the court dismissed her claims, relying on the law of the case.
DISCUSSION
Whitehurst does not challenge the reasoning in the District Court's order granting the motions to dismiss, having conceded that if her suit arises under federal law, it is untimely under the applicable statute of limitations.
See
White v. White Rose Food
,
We review the District Court's dismissal of Whitehurst's claims under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6)
de novo
, "accepting as true all factual allegations in the complaint and drawing all reasonable inferences in favor of" Whitehurst.
City of Providence v. Bats Global Mkts
.,
"The presence or absence of federal-question jurisdiction is governed by the 'well-pleaded complaint rule,' which provides that federal jurisdiction exists only when a federal question is presented on the face of the plaintiff's properly pleaded complaint."
Caterpillar Inc. v. Williams
,
The complete preemption doctrine is an exception to the well-pleaded complaint rule.
Caterpillar
,
Suits for violation of contracts between an employer and a labor organization representing employees in an industry affecting commerce as defined in this chapter, or between any such labor organizations, may be brought in any district court of the United States having jurisdiction of the parties, without respect of the amount in controversy or without regard to the citizenship of the parties.
Section 301 "governs claims founded directly on rights created by collective-bargaining agreements, and also claims substantially dependent on analysis of a collective-bargaining agreement."
Caterpillar
,
*207
Allis-Chalmers Corp
.
v. Lueck
,
When, on the other hand, a plaintiff covered by a CBA asserts "legal rights
independent
of that agreement," preemption does not occur.
Caterpillar Inc
.,
I. Whitehurst's Claims Against the Hospital Defendants
Whitehurst contends that her suit does not present "any need to interpret the CBA" even though "extensive reference" to the CBA will be necessary. Appellant Br. 9, 19. The hospital defendants counter that Whitehurst's "rights and entitlements" during the post-termination period-the only period at issue-"were entirely defined by the grievance process in the parties' [CBA]." Hospital Br. 12. Resolving her claim, they argue, therefore requires determining "whether she was properly classified as a probationary employee after her transfer to Telecommunications; whether she was entitled to be terminated from employment only for cause; whether sleeping on the job was an offense that warranted the application of principles of progressive discipline; and whether she was entitled to reinstatement to an alternative position." Id . at 12-13 (record citations omitted).
The hospital defendants have the better of the argument here: Whitehurst's claims against them are preempted by § 301. The basis for her discrimination claim against the hospital defendants is that "[t]he Hospital refused to recognize [her] disability and adhered to its decision to terminate [her] employment throughout the grievance process even though [she], and her attorney, presented documentation explaining a disability which led to [her] brief periods of [s]omnolence." App. 21 (Complaint ¶ 62). The Hospital, she alleges, "continued to claim [her] status was 'probationary' and thus she could be fired for any reason" even though "it was clear to the Hospital that [she] could not simply be terminated as 'probationary' since the CBA clearly required that she, an employee of long tenure, had to be offered other 'suitable employment.' " Id . at 17 (Complaint ¶¶ 37-38). Crucially, then, Whitehurst only alleges discriminatory treatment occurring after her termination.
A court cannot adjudicate Whitehurst's claim against the Hospital, as alleged, without first determining whether Whitehurst had a right to avail herself of the grievance process-a determination which requires an interpretation of the CBA. As
*208
the District Court reasoned, if Whitehurst, pursuant to the CBA, could be fired without cause as a probationary employee and was not entitled to reinstatement, then the Hospital cannot have violated her rights by refusing to reinstate her. The NYSHRL and NYCHRL do not provide at-will employees with an independent right to a grievance process or reinstatement following a non-discriminatory termination.
See
Whitehurst's invocation of our recent decision in
Figueroa v. Foster
,
In sum, Whitehurst's claims against the hospital defendants are preempted by § 301 because they are "substantially dependent" upon analysis of the terms of the CBA.
Allis-Chalmers
,
II. Whitehurst's Claims Against the Union
Whitehurst's claims against the Union are also preempted by § 301 because, like her claims against the hospital defendants, they are "substantially dependent" upon analysis of the terms of the CBA.
Allis-Chalmers
,
Whitehurst's complaint alleges that the Union "engaged in discrimination by failing to pursue a course of action, that being arbitration, which left Plaintiff without a remedy to reverse a clear instance of discrimination." App. 20 (Complaint ¶ 60). The complaint supports this assertion with three factual allegations: that the Union initially "relied on a bad faith interpretation of the CBA which allowed the Hospital to terminate Plaintiff as 'probationary,' " id. at 21 (Complaint ¶ 64); that the Union "later relied on a document which purports to allow the Hospital to terminate workers who sleep at work, ... fail[ing] to acknowledge the sleeping was brought about by illness," id . (Complaint ¶ 65); and that the Union was aware of Whitehurst's disability when it refused to arbitrate on her behalf.
Whitehurst's claims turn on interpretation of the CBA because, regardless of the Union's awareness of her disability, the Union was entitled to refuse to arbitrate on her behalf if it reasonably concluded that arbitration would be futile under the terms of the CBA. See App. 18 (Complaint ¶¶ 41-42) (the Union's Hearings and Appeals Board affirmed the Union's decision not to arbitrate because it determined "there is virtually no likelihood of succeeding in arbitration"); id . at 19 (Complaint ¶ 49) (the NLRB decided not to discipline the Union as "unions have discretion not to file for arbitration on behalf of a worker"). If the Union determined that Whitehurst had no right to reinstatement or a grievance process under a good faith interpretation of the CBA, and, based on that interpretation, reasonably relied on a document allowing the Hospital to terminate workers who sleep at work, then there is no basis for Whitehurst's allegation of discrimination by the Union.
Whitehurst argues that the District Court was required to "determine what is needed to establish a prima facie case [under the NYSHRL and NYCHRL] and ignore those portions of the Complaint intended to anticipate and avoid the defenses the defendants will present." Appellant Br. 20 (citing
Caterpillar Inc.
,
*210 Whitehurst's claims against the Union are therefore preempted by § 301.
CONCLUSION
We have considered Whitehurst's remaining arguments on appeal and find them to be without merit. For the foregoing reasons, we AFFIRM the judgment of the District Court.
Now known as Northwell Health, Inc.
Complete preemption is distinct from ordinary or "defensive" preemption, which includes express, field, and conflict preemption.
Sullivan
,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Helen M. WHITEHURST, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. 1199SEIU UNITED HEALTHCARE WORKERS EAST, Melissa Hamm, Staten Island University Hospital, North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System, George Gresham, President of the Service Employees International Union, Defendants-Appellees.
- Cited By
- 47 cases
- Status
- Published