Yoho v. Triangle PWC, Inc

In Yoho v. Triangle PWC, Inc., 175 W. Va. 556, 336 S.E.2d 204 (1985), the plaintiff, Ms. Yoho, was seriously injured while working as a utility laborer for the defendant, Triangle PWC, Inc., and she was awarded temporary total disability benefits. Ms. Yoho subsequently filed a Mandolidis action against her employer. A year after Ms. Yoho's injury, while she was still receiving temporary total disability payments, her employer terminated her employment pursuant to the provisions of a collective bargaining agreement as a result of her unavailability for work over the preceding twelve-month period. Ms. Yoho responded by suing Triangle for a violation of public policy, discriminatory discharge in violation of Workers' Compensation law, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The trial court granted Triangle's motion to dismiss on the grounds that Ms. Yoho's claim was preempted by federal labor law as inextricably intertwined with the interpretation of the collective bargaining agreement. The Court reversed, and concluded: "In the case before this Court, Elizabeth Yoho's state law claim is not dependent upon analysis of the terms of her collective bargaining agreement and, therefore, falls into that category of cases which Congress did not intend to pre-empt." 175 W. Va. at 560, 336 S.E.2d at 208.