Woman wins $27.5 million Southwest suit

AP ^ | 4/11

[Daytyn71]

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!!

[Centurion2000]

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.

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.

[iPod Shuffle]

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

[Sloth]

So what did the other passengers say?

[freedom44]

-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

[freedom44]

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.

[ArtyFO]

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.

[MineralMan]

"El Paso...Mexican judge and jury. They hope to hit the lawsuit lottery themselves someday." Are you telling me that people with Mexican citizenship can hold judgeships and serve on juries in Texas? That's news to me. Perhaps you meant "Hispanic," rather than "Mexican." A Mexican is a citizen of Mexico. A Hispanic has a name with its origins in the Spanish language. Like this man, Alberto Gonzales, our nation's Attorney General:

[Wormwood]

Are Southwest Employees going to stop engaging Muslim passengers acting suspiciously for fear of being sued.

If she's not wearing a "I'm a Muslim" T-Shirt, you have no way of knowing what religion she subscribes to.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

Wonder who was on the jury.

[MineralMan]

"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?

[rabidralph]

I hope she doesn't blow it all on lottery tickets.

[Grut]

"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."

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?

[<1/1,000,000th%]

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.

[untenured]

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.

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.

[Tall_Texan]

I would happily go through that ordeal for 50K.

Heck, I'd do it for 20 round-trip tickets and an apology letter.

[MineralMan]

"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?

[NoStaplesPlease]

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."