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Posted on 02/12/2006 5:39:39 PM PST by Paleo Conservative
SUMMARY: Northwest Airlines took heat from the ACLU on Thursday for refusing to honor award tickets that a gay couple in Los Angeles tried to use for a trip to Florida.
Northwest Airlines took heat from the ACLU on Thursday for refusing to honor award tickets that a gay couple in Los Angeles tried to use for a trip to Florida.
In a letter to Northwest, the legal advocacy group said the airline's action violated California's nondiscrimination laws.
Rob Anders, a longtime airline industry employee, won the tickets at a holiday party in December. When he tried to redeem the tickets for a trip with his registered domestic partner, the airline refused, saying it would only recognize a spouse, another airline employee or a dependent child as a suitable "companion" for the award ticket.
"What happened to Mr. Anders and his partner violates California law and is clearly discriminatory," said Christine P. Sun, ACLU of Southern California staff attorney. "We are asking that the company not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or marital status and honor Mr. Anders' ticket for him and a companion."
The ACLU cited the Unruh Civil Rights Act, which mandates "full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges or services in all business establishments of every kind whatsoever" without regard to sexual orientation or marital status.
Anders, 60, said he had been planning to use the tickets to see his 89-year-old mother in Florida until Northwest's refusal.
"I felt terrible," he said. "I thought what they were doing was unfair." If you'd like to know more, you can find stories related to Northwest refuses gay couple's award tickets.
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Why would Northwest care who he flew with? Dumb move on their part.
I don't see a problem here. It is a family friendly company. The employee and his butt-buddy do not constitute a family.
Not yet anyway.
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Weird. My parents get "companion passes" from USAirways, and they're good for the employee and whoever is with him, no questions asked regarding the relationship of the "companion."
NWA is playing the fool here.
In the last couple of years the IRS has instituted some changes in how free flight benefits are awarded to airline employees. I'm willing to bet that the pass wouldn't have been usable by a straight guy's girlfriend, either, lest Northwest run afoul of tax regulations.
I think there is more to this story than is being told.
Thanks for the info.
I think Northwest is going to lose. While everyone was cheering that Arnold vetoed Gay Marriage last September, on the same day he also signed this monster, Assembly Bill 1400 (along a with a bunch of other pro-homo legislation). Here's a synopisis:
• AB 1400 by Assemblymember John Laird (D-Santa Cruz) - Unruh Civil Rights Act: marital status and sexual orientation The Unruh Civil Rights Act (Act) provides that all persons, regardless of their sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, or medical condition are entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges and services in all business establishments of every kind. This bill clarifies that marital status and sexual orientation are among the characteristics that are protected against discrimination by business establishments under the Act. This bill also imports into the Act definitions of the terms "disability," "religion," "sex," and "sexual orientation" from the Fair Employment and Housing Act, and includes, in enumerating the above characteristics, the perception of those characteristics and association with a person who has or is perceived to have those characteristics as being within the protected categories. These definitions will be integrated into other related provisions of the Act.
Arnold’s Gay Rights Give-and-Take - Governor signs civil rights bill...
IRS regulations consider employee spousal pass tickets as income to the employee.
Ping. It doesn't take long for these folks, does it.
Hey, FO. Here's the result of that law that you called "mere crumbs."
I sure hope you and your pro-GLBTer friends are happy now.
Northwest will let him go as long as they get married first...........
Who would've thought?
I believe you called it "The Official Twilight Zone" and "sheer psychosis."
You were right.
I would also add "leaping off the cliff into the blazing abyss" and "cultural suicide". I could go on and on.
It is our duty to speak up, speak out, do what we can on the side of light.
We will all be held to account for our actions and speech at some point. Doesn't matter whether we do a lot or a little, as long as we do what we can.
These sick and evil people want to destroy natural law and I am becoming convinced that not only they do not care whether society is destroyed, they WANT it destroyed.
"I think there is more to this story than is being told."
I agree. Something doesn't sound right. When a gay employee registers a "domestic partner," that person gets the same benefits as a spouse. I recently retired from the airlines, but not Northwest. But I would assume all airlines essentially went by the same rules.
"Anders, 60, said he had been planning to use the tickets to see his 89-year-old mother in Florida until Northwest's refusal. "
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