In Adamo Demolition Company v. International Union of Operating Engineers (6th Cir., No. 20-1163, 07/02/2021), the Company sued the Union and its president for various tort claims arising out of a dispute over staffing one of the Company’s projects. The trial court found the Company’s claims preempted under Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act because the tort claims were inextricably intertwined with and dependent on the requirements of the parties’ collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”) governing the project, and dismissed the case. On appeal, the Company argued the trial court committed a host of errors, including denying the Company’s motion to remand to state court and misapplying the concept of federal labor law preemption. On appeal, the Court’s task was to assess whether the essence of the Company’s claims involved interpreting the parties’ National Maintenance Agreement (“NMA”) or that its claims hinged on rights created by the NMA. Under that standard, the Sixth Circuit affirmed the trial court’s dismissal.
Sixth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Company’s Claims Outside CBA
