white model
White model. Labor law. A method for determining whether a union member’s state-law claim against the em-ployer is preempted by federal law, by focusing on whether state law permits the claim to be waived by a private contract. • In Lingle v. Norge Division of Magic Chef, Inc., 486 U.S. 399, 108 S.Ct. 1877 (1988), the Supreme Court held that a union member’s state-law retaliatory-discharge claim was not preempted by the La-bor–Management Relations Act because the claim could be resolved without interpreting the collective-bargaining agreement. There are at least two models for applying the Lingle test: the White model, which focuses on whether the claim is negotiable or nonnegotiable (that is, whether state law allows the claim to be waived by a private contract) and the Marcus model, which focuses on the independence of the claim in relation to the collective-bargaining agreement. Under the White model, all negotiable claims (those waivable by private contract) are necessarily preempted because their resolution will require an interpretation of the collective-bargaining agreement. A nonnegotiable claims (one that state law does not permit to be waived by private contract) will be preempted only if its resolution requires an interpretation of the collective-bargaining agreement. The White model is named for the author of the law-review article in which it was proposed. Rebecca Homer White, Section 301’s Preemption of State Law Claims: A Model for Analysis, 41 Ala. L. Rev. 377 (1990). See LINGLE TEST. Cf. MARCUS MODEL.
