Posted on 04/12/2006 1:08:39 PM PDT by iPod Shuffle
Woman wins $27.5 million Southwest suit
Associated Press
EL PASO — A jury awarded $27.5 million in damages to a woman of Iranian descent who alleged she was racially profiled when Southwest Airlines accused her of assaulting a flight attendant and interfering with a flight crew.
Samantha Carrington, of Santa Barbara, Calif., won in the civil case Friday after suing the Dallas-based carrier for false imprisonment and malicious prosecution. Carrington was arrested by federal authorities in 2003 after her Houston-to-Los Angeles flight made a scheduled stop in El Paso. Criminal charges were never filed.
According to court records, three flight attendants said Carrington, a naturalized citizen from Iran, became verbally abusive during the flight, grabbed the arm of one flight attendant and threatened to go to the cockpit if the captain was not summoned.
Carrington, 54, denied those allegations and said she was the one mistreated during the short flight. She said the flight attendants lied about her behavior.
"In the evidence it came out that one of the flight attendants stated that Ms. Carrington reminded her of a terrorist, and in our views she was the victim of profiling stereotypes and discrimination," her lawyer Enrique Moreno told the El Paso Times for Tuesday's edition.
In a sworn deposition Carrington, who teaches economics at California State University, Los Angeles, said since her arrest she has been the subject of increased scrutiny and security checks when she travels internationally.
Though Southwest Airlines has denied any wrongdoing, a few months after the incident the company did send Carrington an apology letter, offering her 20 round-trip tickets. The letter was signed by Colleen C. Barrett, president and former chief operating officer. Barrett said in a sworn affidavit that she didn't know anything about the case and didn't write the letter.
A Southwest spokeswoman said the decision will be appealed.
"We certainly don't agree with this particular verdict," spokeswoman Beth Harbin told the newspaper. "The verdict was not based on all the available facts because those facts were not presented to the jury for their consideration."
TWO WORDS: Tort Reform
Even if we accept for the sake of argument that the woman was wronged, to assert that she is due 27.5 million is absurd. I would happily go through that ordeal for 50K.
You won't see this episode on "AIRLINE"...
Why don't we just give all our money to muslims and kill ourselves - that is where our crazy PC culture is going anyways...
I'm guessing that an Air Marshall should have capped her ass when she started squawking in the aisle thus saving everybody a bunch of aggravation.
Insanity.
Better choice, one word, "appeal".
SWA cannot pay a cent of this award. Other passengers will.
Dear SWA: I would rather pay more on my next ticket to fight this award, than to pay this loser and her slimeball lawyer the big bucks...
El Paso...Mexican judge and jury. They hope to hit the lawsuit lottery themselves someday.
Bring your lawyers, guns and money.
Appeal it and throw this crap outta court! Profiling is a valid technique, dammit.
It is the most profound and maddening irony that the jury can be profiled, and normal people rejected, but a potential terrorist cannot be...
You are right...never mind.
SW Airlines has to appeal this bogus suit....
They are not getting taken to court by the parents of that boy that died in a car in Chicago..after one of their planes skidded off a runway...
I know people who have been verbally abused by flight attendants and who were then threatened with arrest when they fought back (verbally).
right on! this is worth 27.5 million? Give me a break! I wonder how treatment would be back in Iran?
Works for me.
Although the amout of the award is excessive, by a large amount, appraently the jury did not think it was a bogus suit.
When I first saw this headline I thought it was the woman who screamed racism because a flight attendant told her to hurry up and sit down before a flight some years ago. A black woman sued the airline but I think common sense prevailed and the case was thrown out.
The Verdict is completely absurd and should be reduced on appeal. In light of the happenings on September 11th, I don't know how a Jury would justify such a verdict. What a bunch of Dimwits.
Are Southwest Employees going to stop engaging Muslim passengers acting suspiciously for fear of being sued. Now everyone's safety is at risk.
What a disgrace!!
What a complete load of crap! If I was the CEO of Southwest you can be sure that someone would have a fatal accident soon. Hitmen are cheaper than lawyers.
http://www.ustreas.gov/press/releases/js28.htm
"250 Economists Endorse President Bush's Jobs and Growth Plan"
The Honorable George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear President Bush:
We enthusiastically endorse your economic growth and jobs proposal. It is fiscally responsible and it will create more employment, economic growth, and opportunities for all Americans. Moreover, it will improve corporate accountability and strengthen the nation’s international competitiveness.
Sincerely,
--
Samantha Carrington, California State University at Los Angeles
So what did the other passengers say?
-A little excessive no? At least she endorsed President Bush economic plan
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/02/20030212-2.html
Text of a Letter to the President
The Honorable George W. Bush The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear President Bush:
We enthusiastically endorse your economic growth and jobs proposal. It is fiscally responsible and it will create more employment, economic growth, and opportunities for all Americans. Moreover, it will improve corporate accountability and strengthen the nation's international competitiveness.
Sincerely,
Samantha Carrington, California State University at Los Angeles
That's an odd assumption. Iranian-Americans are a mix of Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Zoroastrian, and Bahai. Given her name I seriously doubt she's Muslim.
If it gets the show "Airline", a show dealing with drunk passengers who get booted from a SouthWest flight, off the air it's worth it.
If she's not wearing a "I'm a Muslim" T-Shirt, you have no way of knowing what religion she subscribes to.
Wonder who was on the jury.
"Wonder who was on the jury."
I don't know, but I'd guess it was U.S. citizens living in the El Paso area. I could be wrong, but that makes the most sense to me.
Who else?
I hope she doesn't blow it all on lottery tickets.
Then the Airline's complaint is not with the verdict but the quality of their own council. I find it interesting that so many Freepers automatically assume that the airline's behavior couldn't possibly have been 27.5 million dollars worth of bad: why not give the jury the benefit of the doubt?
Hopefully you're right.
I've been on a couple of juries now. Gender, age and race make a big difference on how people respond to courtroom evidence, if it's considered at all.
I think I was a teaching assistant for this woman when I was in graduate school. Let's just say I'm not shocked that she would be involved in an incident such as this.
Heck, I'd do it for 20 round-trip tickets and an apology letter.
"Hopefully you're right.
I've been on a couple of juries now. Gender, age and race make a big difference on how people respond to courtroom evidence, if it's considered at all."
I've been on juries, too. I never noticed that race played any role in any of them. Gender and age, perhaps, but all my juries were of mixed races and that played no role.
All juries are made up of U.S. citizens, so there's no worry about that in El Paso. Non-citizens may not serve on juries in this country.
I have no doubt that many jurors are of Hispanic background in El Paso, though. I can't see why that would make any difference though, with an Iranian woman on trial. You do know that Hispanic folks aren't connected to Iran, right?
I can see the backpack sew-on patches now:
"Go ahead, harass me and lie about me to the press. I need the $27 million."
Madness! Madness!
But I notice that she sued in California - not Texas.
I suppose they could move disgruntled Middle Eastern people to first class and slip out to get them a cocktail as they "jump out of the plane without notice or provocation.."
.. it could also mean that the judge barred the introduction of certain evidence that SW wanted to present to the jury.
My first thought exactly! This is one of the many things that's destroying our civil society. Of course the tort shysters (John Edwards is a perfect example) will take their 40% and become rich and at the same time make our society more litigious than ever. It's also become a form of legal shake-down because many innocent defendants will pay damages just to avoid the agony of prolonged litigation, infinite time wasted, and bad publicity. Do you think it's an accident that our Congress consists mostly of attorneys and is an extension of the trial lawyer lobby? Shakespeare was right - "first kill all the lawyers!"
Nevermind - I misread it. Now I'm not sure where she sued.
She wasn't just harassed... she was arrested as well. No charges were filed, however.
I think I'd want more than 20 plane tickets for a false arrest.
$27.5 million. Now THAT'S some expensive airline baggage.
Sounds like something Liberace would wear....
OK, good point. So, I can see the sew-on backpack patches now:
"Go ahead, arrest me and lie about me to the press -- I need the $27 million!"
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