George Melendez, Plaintiffs and Respondents v. San Francisco Baseball Associates LLC, Defendant and Appellant.

Summary

The court held that the plaintiffs' wage claims were not preempted by federal labor law because resolving them requires interpreting the state-law meaning of "discharge," not interpreting an uncertain or disputed term in the collective bargaining agreement. Although the agreement may be consulted as relevant factual evidence, no provision addresses the timing of wage payments or directly determines whether the guards were discharged after particular events. The court reversed the Court of Appeal and remanded for further proceedings, without deciding the merits of the wage claims.