American Airlines workers class action lawsuit overview:
- Who: Santrise White filed a class action lawsuit against American Airlines Inc.
- Why: White claims American Airlines has reasonable accommodations policies that violate the Americans with Disabilities Act.
- Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in Texas federal court.
American Airlines violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in the way it treats its disabled workers, a new class action lawsuit alleges.
Plaintiff Santrise White, who is a disabled American Airlines employee, claims the airline, in regard to its disabled employees, refuses to engage in interactive processes, refuses accommodations, impermissibly terminates them and fails to rehire them.
White argues American Airlines has an illegal policy that requires its employees with disabilities to wait for an accommodating position to open, at which point they allegedly must compete with other employees with disabilities for the position.
“American Airlines’ ADA violating policies adversely affect Plaintiff White and the Putative Class Members who benefit from the protections under the ADA,” the American Airlines class action states.
White wants to represent a class of American Airlines employees who have a disability within the meaning of the ADA and have been subject to the airline’s policies regarding reasonable accommodations.
White also wants to represent an injunctive class of disabled American Airlines employees who have been adversely affected by the airlines’ aforementioned reasonable accommodations policies.
American Airlines refused to accommodate request to wear tennis shoes, class action says
White claims American Airlines, in her case, has both refused to engage in the interactive process and refused to timely accommodate her — namely, to allow her to wear tennis shoes because of her lymphedema.
“Plaintiff White was forced to continue working while her legs swelled in pain,” the American Airlines class action states.
The plaintiff is demanding a jury trial and requesting declaratory and injunctive relief along with an award of compensatory, putative and punitive damages for herself and all class members.
In another case involving American Airlines, the airline filed a lawsuit against the online travel agency and metasearch engine Skiplagged last month over claims it was selling American Airlines tickets without being an authorized agent.
Have you been subjected to American Airlines policies on reasonable accommodations? Let us know in the comments.
The plaintiff is represented by Clif Alexander, Austin W. Anderson and Lauren Braddy of Anderson Alexander PLLC.
The American Airlines workers class action lawsuit is White v. American Airlines Inc., Case No. 5:23-cv-01164, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.
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9 thoughts onAmerican Airlines class action alleges company refuses to give disabled workers reasonable accommodations
I was definitely discriminated against and not given any of the reasonable accommodations I asked for. I wasn not even given info oin how to do it for MONTHS! Please add Me.
I was injured on the job July 2019. No accommodations were made to allow me to work while injured. PT and injections, followed by surgery and pt that was shut down for covid, ended up with painful frozen shoulder. Zero compassion or consideration shown after 21 years of service. Much more to the whole story by I ended up being forced to retire because I had zero hours for FMLA due to the injury in the job and my son had a major medical emergency.
My name is Patrick Cooper. I was employed by American Airlines as a Fleet Service Clerk from November 8, 2000 through March 20, 2015. I suffered an on the job back injury May 24, 2010. American Airlines failed to provide me reasonable accommodation with reckless indifference to my Federally Protected Rights. American Airlines failed to engage in the interactive process and/or provide me with any reasonable accommodation. I had multiple encounters with more than 20 doctors, physical therapists and nurse case managers. After nearly five years of hell, American Airlines terminated my employment after numerous requests for medical substantiation.
American Airlines fired me via a personal e-mail at 11:30pm on a weekend, after finding multiple different ways to harass me after a settlement back in January. They are at fault with more than disability accommodations. I was denied religious accommodations requesting a few minutes to pray uninterrupted. I was denied baby bonding when my wife gave birth. I was reprimanded in August for an occurrence that happened in March that was part of my FMLA leave. I was stalked on social media by managers, including on LinkedIn. American Airlines also failed to acknowledge my disability as well, citing it was not an “accepted disability”. While the disability is listed under the EEOA, AA says it doesn’t count. This company violates laws on a daily basis. The amount of corruption and violation and cover ups in Charlotte NC alone is enough to warrant federal investigation and fines by the FAA and OSHA. Let me in on this suit
Add me please
please add me
I have severe arthritis and had to have double knee replacements. We have to park a few miles away and ride a shuttle bus to the terminal. There are handicap spots to park near the shuttle bus stops but most of the time they are filled but when the bus drops us off we still have to walk a long distance to get to the terminal and our work location. I reached out to the airport authority and they said it’s American Airlines problem to deal with. When I brought it up to our general manager she said she’ll look into it but she never got back to us to offer a solution. Also, before I had my knee replacement surgery I couldn’t walk back and forth to the gate area. I was in so much pain and I asked to work at the ticket counter but they told me that they didn’t offer limited duty and if I couldn’t do the job in all areas I would have to go out until I was 100 percent.
I was also denied reasonable accommodations. I contracted the flesh eating bacteria in 2020 after 6 surgeries on my foot I was forced back to work due to financial hardships. Needed to stay at the ticket counter and not walk excessively. Management absolutely refused to work with me and my doctors. Wasn’t ready to come back to work without accommodations but I had to. Shameful!! ADA department did whatever my local management wanted.
AA refuses to allow employees to work in areas that will accommodate employees handicap. They require you to be able to work all areas at 100% or don’t allow you to work at all. I can work the gates 100% of the time but not the ticket counter but refuse to allow. I have Rrheumatoid Arthritis and working the ticket counter throwing luggage for 8 hours makes it flare.