Troy W. McNealy v. Caterpillar, Inc.

CUDAHY, Circuit Judge.

This appeal is a small piece of one of the most protracted disputes between labor and management in recent history. Appellant Troy McNealy, a former member of the United Auto Workers (UAW), brought suit alleging that appellee Caterpillar violated Illinois law when it dismissed him without just cause. The district judge held that a prior decision of the Illinois Appellate Court precluded McNealy from pursuing his suit, and, in the alternative, that the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) preempted McNealy’s state law claim. In this opinion, we hold that the decision of…