Employment & Labor Law
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Roland v. Florida East Coast Railway, LLC.
29 Fla. L. Weekly D1312 (Fla. 3rd DCA June 2, 2004)
In this action Stephen P. Roland appealed an order dismissing his Florida whistle-blower lawsuit on grounds of federal preemption. Plaintiff-appellant Roland was employed as a railroad policeman by defendant-appellee Florida East Coast Railway ("FEC"). Roland alleged that he was terminated for reporting several instances when FEC had violated federal and state laws. Roland contends that his termination was in violation of Florida's whistle-blower statutes. See sec 448.101-448.105, Fla. Stat. (2000).
The FEC successfully moved for dismissal, arguing that there is a federal whistle-blower statute which protects railroad employees, 49 U.S.C. sec. 20109, and that the federal statute necessarily preempts any state whistle-blower act. The federal whistle-blower statute states, in relevant part:
(d) Election of remedies.--An employee of a railroad carrier may not seek protection under both this section and another provision of law for the same allegedly unlawful act of the carrier.
49 U.S.C. sec 20109(d). Florida's whistle-blower statute is "another provision of law." The federal whistle-blower statute thus allows a railroad employee to proceed (1) under the federal whistle-blower statute, or (2) under any other whistle-blower statute (such as the Florida statute at issue in this case), but not both.
The court of appeals emphasized that in adjudicating a Florida whistle-blower case, any applicable federal law and regulations regarding the operations and safety standards of railroads are, of course, controlling. The court stated,
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