FRANK KRESSE, APPELLANT,
v.
CITY OF HIALEAH, A FLORIDA MUNICIPAL CORPORATION, APPELLEE
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Frank Kresse challenged his wrongful termination by the City of Hialeah after filing a workers' compensation claim under Florida Statute 440.205. The trial court dismissed the complaint for failure to exhaust the collective bargaining agreement's grievance procedures, but the appellate court reversed, holding that state law wrongful discharge claims do not require exhaustion of contractual remedies because they involve distinct legal issues.
No. An action under section 440.205 is not precluded by the collective bargaining agreement's grievance procedures because resolving a state-law wrongful discharge claim does not require construing the collective bargaining agreement itself. The determination of motivation for discharge under the statute is separate and distinct from issues involving the construction or interpretation of the contract.
[1] A statutory claim for wrongful termination based on filing a workers' compensation claim is not precluded by a collective bargaining agreement's grievance procedures.
[2] The determination of whether an employer discharged an employee for filing a workers' compensation claim is separate and distinct from issues involving the interpretation…
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“[The] resolution of the state-law claim does not require construing the collective-bargaining agreement.”
Establishes the fundamental principle that wrongful discharge claims under state law are distinct from contractual interpretation issues, thus exhaustion of grievance procedures is not required.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceKresse was employed by the City of Hialeah and had filed a valid workers' compensation claim several years prior to his termination. The City subseque…
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SCHWARTZ, Chief Judge.
The plaintiff below appeals from a final order dismissing a complaint against his employer, the City of Hialeah, with prejudice. The action, brought under section 440.205, Florida Statutes (1987),1 claimed that the City had wrongfully terminated his employment because he had filed a valid workers’ compensation claim several years before. The dismissal was based upon Kresse’s admitted failure to exhaust the grievance process and other administrative remedies provided by the collective bargaining agreement entered into between his union and the city pursuant to section 447.201, Florida Statutes (1987), et. seq.
We reverse. In Lingle v. Norge Division of Magic Chef, Inc., 486 U.S. -, 108 S.Ct. 1877, 100 L.Ed.2d 410 (1988), which, along with Southwest Gulfcoast, Inc. v. Allan, 513 So. 2d 219 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987), is controlling here, the Supreme Court squarely held that an action under an Illinois statute virtually identical to section 440.205 is not precluded by the National Labor Management Relations Act nor the conflict resolution procedures provided by the applicable collective bargaining agreement. See also Allis-Chalmers Corp. v. Lueck, 471 U.S. 202, 105 S.Ct. 1904, 85 L.Ed.2d 206 (1985).
The essential basis of this conclusion, which was brilliantly anticipated by Judge Zehmer in Allan, 513 So. 2d at 219, is that a determination of the issues arising under the statute — the motivation for the discharge and the like — are separate and distinct from those involving the construction or interpretation of the agreement with which the remedies provided by that contract are concerned. See Lingle, 486 U.S. at -, 108 S.Ct. at 1882, 100 L.Ed.2d at 420 (“[The] resolution of the state-law claim does not require construing the collective-bargaining agreement.”).
This reasoning directly applies to the present case. The remedies presumably provided by the collective bargaining agreement involve only issues which concern the agreement itself. § 447.401, Fla. Stat. (1987) (“Grievance procedures. — Each public employer and bargaining agent shall negotiate a grievance procedure to be used for the settlement of disputes between employer and employee, or group of employees, involving the interpretation or application of a collective bargaining agreement.”). [e.s.] But since, as Lingle and Allan indicate, no such claim is necessarily involved in the present action, there is no reason to require that a thus-irrelevant pursuit of the remedies provided by that contract be undertaken. Compare also City of Miami v. Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 20, 378 So. 2d 20, 24 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979) (exhaustion required as to issue arising out of the interpretation and application of agreement itself), cert. denied, 388 So. 2d 1113 (Fla.1980).
We find no merit in the appellee’s other arguments for affirmance. The contention that, for diverse alleged reasons, the plaintiff may not be able factually to support his complaint may not be considered on a motion to dismiss.
REVERSED.
. This section provides:
440.205 Coercion of employees. — No employer shall discharge, threaten to discharge, intimidate, or coerce any employee by reason of such employee’s valid claim for compensation or attempt to claim compensation under the Workers’ Compensation Law.
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Yuri Sucart and Jose Gustavo Gomez v. Off. OF THE Comm'r, 129 So. 3d 1112 (Fla. 3d DCA 2013)…resolution of the claims will depend on purely factual questions relating to the conduct and motivations of the defendants, “separate and distinct from those involving the construction or interpretation of the agreement.” Kresse v. City of Hialeah, 539 So. 2d 534, 535 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989); see also Sw. Gulfcoast, Inc. v. Allan, 513 So. 2d 219, 227 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987), receded from in part on other grounds, Fisher v. Int’l Longshoremen’s Ass’n, 827 So. 2d 1096 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002) (holding that there was no pree…
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Kilpatrick v. Dade Cnty. Sch. Bd., 606 So. 2d 698 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992)…f appellant to exhaust applicable grievance and administrative remedies. See City of Miami v. Fraternal Order of Police, 378 So. 2d 20 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979), cert. denied, 388 So. 2d 1113 (Fla.1980). Appellant’s reliance on Kresse v. City of Hialeah, 539 So. 2d 534 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989), is misplaced. Kresse holds that an employee need not file a grievance under a collective bargaining agreement where the employee makes a claim directly under the statutory anti-retaliation provision of the worker’s compensation l…
Authorities Cited
- Allis-Chalmers Corp. v. Lueck, 471 U.S. 202 (U.S. 1985)
- Lingle v. Norge Div. of Magic Chef, Inc., 486 U.S. 399 (U.S. 1988)
- City OF Miami v. Fraternal Order OF Police Lodge NO. 20 OF the City OF Miami, 378 So. 2d 20 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979)
- Sw. Gulfcoast, Inc. v. Allan, 513 So. 2d 219 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987)