People v. Laino

In this appeal, a former employee alleges he was discharged because he complained about fraudulent billing practices and refused to implement those practices and, thus, his discharge violated public policy. The employer obtained summary adjudication of the wrongful discharge claim on the ground that it was preempted by federal labor statutes because (1) the employee engaged in arguably protected concerted activity and (2) the claim could not be decided independent of the just cause termination provisions contained in the applicable collective bargaining agreement.