Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. United Food & Commercial Workers International Union

2016 COA 72, 382 P.3d 1249, 2016 WL 2605737, 206 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3222, 2016 Colo. App. LEXIS 609
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 5, 2016
DocketCourt of Appeals No. 14CA2061
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 2016 COA 72 (Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. United Food & Commercial Workers International Union) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. United Food & Commercial Workers International Union, 2016 COA 72, 382 P.3d 1249, 2016 WL 2605737, 206 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3222, 2016 Colo. App. LEXIS 609 (Colo. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

Opinion by

JUDGE MILLER

¶ 1 Defendants, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) and a related entity, Organization United for Respect at Walmart (collectively, unions), appeal the orders from the district court denying their motion to dismiss and entering summary judgment in favor of plaintiff Wal-Mart Stores, Inc, (Walmart)-1 We affirm. In so doing, we hold that the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 151-169 (2012), does not arguably prohibit, dnd therefore does not preempt, Walmart’s state claim to enjoin the unions from trespassing on its premises.

I. Background

¶ 2 The unions are labor organizations that engaged in demonstrations at Walmart stores nationwide, including at several locations in Colorado. In response,' Walmart mailed a letter to UFCWs general counsel asking him to direct the unions to immediately cease protesting on Walmart’s property. When the activities continued on Walmart premises, Walmart filed an unfair labor practice charge (labor charge) with the National Labor Relations Board (Board), claiming that the unions violated section 8(b)(1)(A) of the NLRA, 29 U.S.C, § 158 (2012), “by planning, orchestrating, and conducting a series of unauthorized and blatantly trespassory in-store mass demonstrations, invasive ‘flash mobs,’2 and other confrontational group activities” at Walmart stores nationwide. This charge was later dismissed, at Walmart’s request. Wal-mart then filed a complaint for injunctive and declaratory relief from trespass in district court,3 requesting a permanent injunction enjoining the unions from engaging in three types of activity on Walmart’s property in Colorado: (1) trespassing to engage in unauthorized activities such as picketing, patrolling, parading, flash mobs, demonstrations, handbilling, solicitation, customer disruptions or manager confrontations; (2) entering without permission for any purpose other than shopping for or purchasing merchandise; and (3) committing any other unlawful and disruptive acts.

¶ 3 The unions filed a motion to dismiss under C.R.C.P. 12(b)(1), claiming that NLRA preemption deprived the district court of subject matter jurisdiction. • The court denied the motion. Walmart then moved for summary judgment and the court granted it. The court’s order,, as relevant here, permanently enjoins the unions from engaging in the following activities at approximately ninety-four Walmart store locations in Colorado:

(a) entering onto or inside any store, facility, or other property, including any apron sidewalk or parking lot, in the State of Colorado that is owned, operated, or controlled by Walmart or any of their subsidiaries, affiliates, or operating entities to engage in activities such as picketing, patrolling, parading, demonstrations, “flash mobs,” handbill-ing, solicitation, rallies, video-bombing,4 and manager confrontations;
[1253]*1253(b) entering onto or inside any store, facility, or other property in the State of Colorado, including any apron sidewalk or parking lot, that is owned, operated, or controlled by Walmart or any of their subsidiaries, affiliates or operating entities without permission or authorization from Walmart for any purpose other than shopping for and/or purchasing Walmart merchandise; and/or
(c) barricading, blocking, or preventing access to or egress from any store, facility, or other property, including any apron sidewalk or parking lot, in the State of Colorado that is owned, operated, or controlled by Walmart, or any ■ of their subsidiaries, affiliates or operating entities.

(Emphasis added.) The court also enjoined similar activities with respect to six stores at which Walmart has building-only leases.

¶ 4 The unions argue that the district court erred in denying their motion to dismiss because Walmart’s lawsuit is preempted by the NLRA. In addition, they argue that, even if NLRA preemption does not apply, the court erred in granting Walmart’s motion for summary judgment with respect to Walmart-owned property that is subject to nonexclusive easements, because a claim of trespass on areas subject to nonexclusive easements requires proof that the unions unreasonably interfered with Walmart’s use'of those areas. We turn first to the preemption argument.

II. Preemption

¶ 5 The unions argue that the NLRA preempts Walmart’s lawsuit because it arguably prohibits the unions’ trespass. We conclude that the lawsuit is not preempted.

A. Preservation and Standard of Review

¶ 6 Challenges to subject matter jurisdiction may be asserted at any time. Town of Carbondale v. GSS Props., LLC, 169 P.3d 675, 681 (Colo.2007). We apply a mixed standard of review to motions to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Levine v. Katz, 192 P.3d 1008, 1012 (Colo.App.2006). The district court’s factual findings are reviewed for clear error; they are binding unless so clearly erroneous as not to find support in the record. Id. The court’s legal conclusions, though, are reviewed de novo-. Ashton Props. Ltd. v. Overton, 107 P.3d 1014, 1017 (Colo.App.2004).

. B. . Analysis

1. Preemption Law

¶ 7 Congress enacted the NLRA and created the Board, 29 U.S.C. § 153(a) (2012), to, among other things, encourage and protect the rights of workers to organize for the purposes of negotiating the terms and conditions of their employment. 29 U.S.C. § 151 (2012); see also Chamber of Commerce of United States v. Brown, 554 U.S. 60, 66, 128 S.Ct. 2408, 171 L.Ed.2d 264 (2008). Section 7 of the NLRA, 29 U.S.C. § 157 (2012), provides that workers have the right to organize, bargain collectively, and.engage in concerted activity for their mutual aid and protection. See also Brown, 554 U.S. at 66, 128 S.Ct. 2408. Safeguarding this right is the Board’s power to prevent “any unfair labor practice ... affecting commerce.” 29 U.S.C. § 160(a) (2012). The NLRA protects against different types of unfair labor practices; relevant to this appeal is section 8(b)(1)(A), 29 U.S.C. § 158(b)(1)(A), which makes it an “unfair labor practice” for labor organizations to “restrain or coerce ... employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed” in section 7. See also Brown, 554 U.S. at 67, 128 S.Ct. 2408.

¶ 8 The NLRA contains no express preemption provision, but “Congress implicitly mandated two types of pre-emption as necessary to implement federal labor policy.” Brown,

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2016 COA 72, 382 P.3d 1249, 2016 WL 2605737, 206 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3222, 2016 Colo. App. LEXIS 609, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wal-mart-stores-inc-v-united-food-commercial-workers-international-coloctapp-2016.