Southwest Reaches $19M Military Leave Class Action Settlement

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A group of pilots who alleged they were unfairly denied sick time while on military leave have garnered a potential $19 million settlement deal with Southwest Airlines.

The Southwest military leave class action settlement will end litigation initiated by a pilot and Air Force Reserve member who claimed that while the airline allowed pilots to continue to accrue sick leave time for obligations like jury duty, it denied the benefit for those on military leave for the short term.

The Southwest Airlines class action lawsuit alleged that the sick time accruals, along with continued retirement benefits, had been unfairly denied from 2001 until 2013.

Under the terms of the Southwest military leave class action settlement, the airline will pay out a portion of the denied retirement and sick time claims to approximately 2,000 pilots.

The pilots can also opt to have the sick time added to their current coverage if they are still with Southwest.

Class Members include “[a]ll former or current pilots employed by Southwest who took Short-Term Military Leave [a period of military leave of 14 calendar days or less] from Southwest between January 1, 2001 and the Preliminary Approval Date.”

Southwest has agreed to pay $5.8 million as a part of the Southwest military leave class action settlement to cover the unpaid retirement benefits.

The Southwest employee class action lawsuit alleged that the airline failed to inform Class Members that it would not provide matching funds to pilots’ 401(k) when they took leave based on their “deemed earnings.”

“From 2001 to 2013, Plaintiffs allege [Southwest ‘SWA’] had a pattern or practice of refusing to tell SWA pilots their deemed earnings for periods of STML, making it difficult-to-impossible for pilots— whose pay varies week to week—to obtain information needed to make make-up contributions and have SWA match them,” notes the motion for preliminary approval in the Southwest military leave class action settlement.

The airline argues that pilots who opt to have the sick time added to their current coverage will not be able to cash out those benefits until they actually use them. However, the company will pay out $1,000 to each Class Member who wishes to exchange their claim for cash.

According to the Southwest military leave class action settlement, the airline violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) by improperly denying the benefits while their pilots were out on short term military leave.

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The Class Members are represented by Peter Romer­ Friedman, Jahan Sagafi and Rachel Dempsey of Outten & Golden LLP, Thomas Jarrard of the Law Office of Thomas Jarrard PLLC and Matthew Crotty of Crotty & Son Law Firm PLLC.

The Southwest Military Leave Class Action Lawsuit is Huntsman v. Southwest Airlines Co., Case No. 3:17-­cv­-03972, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.