248
Opinion of the Court
Justice Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.
This action involves the scope of federal pre-emption under the Railway Labor Act (RLA), 45 U. S. C. § 151 et seq. The RLA, which was extended in 1936 to cover the airline industry, see Act of Apr. 10, 1936, ch. 166, 49 Stat. 1189; 45 U. S. C. §§ 181-188, sets up a mandatory arbitral mechanism to handle disputes "growing out of grievances or out of the interpretation or application of agreements concerning rates of pay, rules, or working conditions," 45 U. S. C. § 153 First (i). The question in this case is whether an aircraft mechanic who claims that he was discharged for refusing to certify the safety of a plane that he considered unsafe and for reporting his safety concerns to the Federal Aviation Administration may pursue available state-law remedies for wrongful discharge, or whether he may seek redress only through the RLA's arbitral mechanism. We hold that the RLA does not pre-empt his state-law causes of action.
I
Respondent Grant Norris is an aircraft mechanic licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). His aircraft mechanic's license authorizes him to approve an airplane and
S. Michaels, Deputy Attorney General, Grant Woods, Attorney General of Arizona, Richard Blumenthal, Attorney General of Connecticut, Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General of Florida, Roland W. Burris, Attorney General of Illinois, Pamela Fanning Carter, Attorney General of Indiana, Robert T. Stephan, Attorney General of Kansas, Michael E. Carpenter, Attorney General of Maine, Frank J. Kelley, Attorney General of Michigan, Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon, Attorney General of Missouri, Joseph P. Mazurek, Attorney General of Montana, Tom Udall, Attorney General of New Mexico, Ernest D. Preate, Jr., Attorney General of Pennsylvania, Darrell V. McGraw, Jr., Attorney General of West Virginia, and Richard Weil, Acting Attorney General of the Northern Mariana Islands; for the Allied Educational Foundation by Bertram R. Gelfand and Jeffrey C. Dannenberg; for the National Employment Lawyers Association by Mary Ann B. Oakley, Janette Johnson, and Robert B. Fitzpatrick; and for the Railway Labor Executives' Association by John O'B. Clarke, Jr.
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