Gregory v. SCIE, LLC, 317 F.3d 1050 (9th Cir. 2003)
Rodney Gregory, a member of Local 44 of the IATSE union, filed an action in state court alleging a violation of the California Labor Code and Wage Orders for SCIE’s failure to pay him premium wage rates for overtime work he had performed. SCIE removed the action to federal court on the ground that Gregory’s claims were preempted by Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act and moved to dismiss such claims under that statute. The Ninth Circuit determined (in a two-to-one vote) that since Gregory’s claims were based entirely on state law and did not require an interpretation of the collective bargaining agreement, the action had been improperly removed to and dismissed by the federal court.