Page:Alaska Airlines v. Judy Schurke - Panel Opinion.pdf/4

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KLEINFELD, Senior Circuit Judge:

This is a RailwayLabor Act preemption case. We decide, not the merits of the case, but which entity should decide upon the merits, the State of Washington, or the System Adjustment Board established pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement.

Though this became a dispute between the airline and a state agency and union, it arises out of a dispute between a flight attendant and the airline about her sick leave. The flight attendant, Laura Masserant, called in sick in May, to care for her son who was ill. She proposed to take two days off as sick leave to care for him. But she had used up all her sick leave. She had vacation leave coming to her, but vacation leave is scheduled the October before the year in which it is to be used. Masserant had cashed out most of her vacation leave, and had scheduled all her remaining vacation leave for December, so she had none available to her in May. If Masserant had called in sick, despite having used up all her sick leave, she would have accumulated “points.” Under the collective bargaining agreement between her union and the airline, if a flight attendant calls in sick too many times after using up all her sick leave, accumulating too many points, she is subject to graduated discipline – counseling, warning, and for enough points, termination.

Masserant claimed an entitlement to use her December vacation leave for her child’s illness without being charged points, under the Washington Family Care Act. That state