Barbe v. Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., Inc.

OPINION AND ORDER

NIEMEYER, District Judge.

This case presents the question whether an employee’s state common law actions of defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress against her employer are preempted by § 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act when the employment relationship is governed by a collective-bargaining agreement.

I

Janet Barbe, plaintiff, began employment with the defendant, A & P, in 1984 as a bakery clerk. In the spring of 1987, A & P sent Barbe a letter, on the belief that she falsified a worker’s compensation claim, that stated, “This is to advise you that…