Facts

Karen Coleman sued Kaiser Permanente, Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, Lowry Mitchell, and Terri Pillow-Noriega, in connection with Coleman's employment.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiff, an African-American woman, alleged that she was represented by the California Nurses Association, a union, beginning in 2005 and continuing throughout her tenure at Kaiser. Plaintiff further alleged that she had been a nurse with Kaiser for about two decades.

Plaintiff alleged that in late 2007, she was transferred to Kaiser's new facility in Antioch after having worked in Kaiser's Oakland facility as a Staff Nurse of the Emergency Dept. for several years. Plaintiff alleged that following her transfer she was discriminated against. She then filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Dept. of Fair Employment and Housing, after which, defendants retaliated against her for doing so. Plaintiff alleged that Kaiser ultimately fired her because of her race.

Plaintiff sued defendants asserting claims for race discrimination, age discrimination, disability discrimination, failure to prevent discrimination, workplace harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, wrongful termination in violation of public policy, defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and violation of Business & Professions Code Section 17200.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS:
Defendant moved for summary judgment on federal preemption grounds and failure to exhaust her contractual remedies under the parties' collective bargaining agreement's grievance procedure.

Result

The district court agreed that Coleman's breach of contract and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing were preempted, and granted summary judgment in favor of defendants on those claims. The court then declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Coleman's state law claims. Accordingly, the court remanded the matter to state court.

Other Information

FILING DATE: May 24, 2012.