Case: Labor Relations/Minor Disputes (8th Cir.)

An over forty-year-old female union member’s age and race discrimination lawsuit against Union Pacific Railroad Co. alleging she was unlawfully denied a promotion twice is preempted by the federal Railway Labor Act as a “minor” dispute, where RLA’s mandatory arbitration requirement for resolution of “minor“ disputes that require interpretation of a provision of the parties’ collective bargaining agreement divests the court of its jurisdiction, the claim is admittedly a “minor” dispute within meaning of RLA, and whether the employee applied for either promotion is a disputed question of fact requiring interpretation of Rule 11 of the CBA—"Bulletining Positions"—to determine whether ...