Did Lombardo ok this?

[Realityck]

 
There are complaints from around the system.  DFW isn't the only station with issues, ORD has had several as well.

 
 
 
I’m not a lawyer but I’ve read the Complaint. Two things strike me – first, they claim that people are being intimidated into pencil whipping and performing inadequate maintenance. The first thing the Court is going to ask is why isn’t the FAA involved and why should it be doing the FAA’s job of reviewing maintenance practices. It will also ask why this isn’t a minor dispute subject to arbitration.  More important, if any of this was true and could be proven why isn’t the lawyer seeking emergency or even preliminary relief. Maybe I missed it, but right now this thing could take years before reaching trial – if it ever does - time during which AA won’t be prevented from doing anything.
 
This looks like a lot of lawsuits brought by Seham against ACA, NWA, USAirways, and ALPA which are always announced with all kinds of dramatic press and fanfare and then are quietly dismissed a few years later. In the meantime, hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees are racked up for no result. My understanding is that Seham was paid over a quarter of a million dollars for the case that was just dismissed in DC.  He may have his supporters among the true believers who get on this Board, but there’s a long line of American and USAirways pilots who are less than thrilled about the results of his work.

 

[Vortilon]

 
 
 
I’m not a lawyer but I’ve read the Complaint. Two things strike me – first, they claim that people are being intimidated into pencil whipping and performing inadequate maintenance. The first thing the Court is going to ask is why isn’t the FAA involved and why should it be doing the FAA’s job of reviewing maintenance practices. It will also ask why this isn’t a minor dispute subject to arbitration.  More important, if any of this was true and could be proven why isn’t the lawyer seeking emergency or even preliminary relief. Maybe I missed it, but right now this thing could take years before reaching trial – if it ever does - time during which AA won’t be prevented from doing anything.
 
This looks like a lot of lawsuits brought by Seham against ACA, NWA, USAirways, and ALPA which are always announced with all kinds of dramatic press and fanfare and then are quietly dismissed a few years later. In the meantime, hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees are racked up for no result. My understanding is that Seham was paid over a quarter of a million dollars for the case that was just dismissed in DC.  He may have his supporters among the true believers who get on this Board, but there’s a long line of American and USAirways pilots who are less than thrilled about the results of his work.

 
I'm not a lawyer either, nor do I play one on TV: however, I have seen firsthand - some of the activity take place that the plaintiffs allege.

 

[swamt]

 
I'm not a lawyer either, nor do I play one on TV: however, I have seen firsthand - some of the activity take place that the plaintiffs allege.

You may get called in as a witness then.  

 

[swamt]

 
 
 
I’m not a lawyer but I’ve read the Complaint. Two things strike me – first, they claim that people are being intimidated into pencil whipping and performing inadequate maintenance. The first thing the Court is going to ask is why isn’t the FAA involved and why should it be doing the FAA’s job of reviewing maintenance practices. It will also ask why this isn’t a minor dispute subject to arbitration.  More important, if any of this was true and could be proven why isn’t the lawyer seeking emergency or even preliminary relief. Maybe I missed it, but right now this thing could take years before reaching trial – if it ever does - time during which AA won’t be prevented from doing anything.
 
This looks like a lot of lawsuits brought by Seham against ACA, NWA, USAirways, and ALPA which are always announced with all kinds of dramatic press and fanfare and then are quietly dismissed a few years later. In the meantime, hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees are racked up for no result. My understanding is that Seham was paid over a quarter of a million dollars for the case that was just dismissed in DC.  He may have his supporters among the true believers who get on this Board, but there’s a long line of American and USAirways pilots who are less than thrilled about the results of his work.

Reality, you make some good points.  It more than likely won't be years.  There is a case currently working that went to court very quickly...

 

[FWAAA]

Reality, you make some good points.  It more than likely won't be years.  There is a case currently working that went to court very quickly...

I disagree. I don't think they made a single "good point," as their entire post mis-characterized the complaint's allegations and reflect a complete misunderstanding of the situation.

 

[Overspeed]

My biggest concern about this lawsuit is that when you go nuclear (getting outside entities involved) there will be nasty fallout. The Feds don't look at only what you want them to look at, they look at everything. I can see that legal will be involved in every allegation of maintenance or work performance issues from here on out. It would have been better to work this out in-house without fanfare but we are in the lawsuit phase so it will be ugly for sometime now. The best advice now would to watch your back and CYA.

 

[AANOTOK]

Agreed...don't know if would be considered the proverbial "can of worms", probably much bigger than that. My only question (not questioning the suit) would be the timing. I would also agree that keeping it in house MAY have been a better path/option, then again, I'm not privy to any discussions before hand. Either way, if indeed management had our folks putting unsafe planes in they sky, shame on them and the hammer should drop. If on the other hand the crew at 591 has some other agenda and the FAA cannot find any evidence of what this suit claims, the boys from 591 would probably be in a world of hurt. I guess you could say at this point they are "all in".

 

[FWAAA]

Success or failure of this lawsuit does not depend on proving any pencil-whipping or proving that management was putting unsafe planes in the air.

The plaintiffs win this lawsuit if they show that management threatened, harrassed or interfered with the leadership of local 591.

The court in this case won't determine the validity of any of the alleged maintenance failures - that's the job of the FAA. And the FAA won't determine the validity of any of the alleged violations of the RLA; that's the court's job.

 

[AANOTOK]

My point...The person(s) making the claim that management was telling (demanding) them to ignore problems with aircraft that could indeed jeopardize the lives of the flying public (as determined by the FAA) and the FAA determined there was no such jeopardy, then the person(s) could be in some hot water. In other words, claiming to be forced to "violate federal aviation standards" is a pretty serious allegation. Regardless of who ultimately decides if there is any merit to this suit, if it is found without merit, it could possibly mean trouble for some.

 

[FWAAA]

My point...The person(s) making the claim that management was telling (demanding) them to ignore problems with aircraft that could indeed jeopardize the lives of the flying public (as determined by the FAA) and the FAA determined there was no such jeopardy, then the person(s) could be in some hot water. In other words, claiming to be forced to "violate federal aviation standards" is a pretty serious allegation. Regardless of who ultimately decides if there is any merit to this suit, if it is found without merit, it could possibly mean trouble for some.

I agree completely. Peterson and the other plaintiffs have lobbed a nuclear warhead here with these allegations, and if the FAA were to find that there is nothing to them (the forced pencil whipping, etc), then if I'm AA's lawyers, I spend serious money researching whether I can sue the plaintiffs for defamation, because these allegations, true or not, could have significant effects on bookings and revenues.

 

[eolesen]

This is the second attempt to use AIR21 in the past two months -- first the UA FA's who didn't like smiley faces on the APU door, and now this.

I suspect both will fail to be seen by any court as having whistle-blower status. It's pretty obvious they chose to file this in Illinois where they have a better chance of getting a blue collar jury seated. I still doubt it gets that far.

 

[Vortilon]

You may get called in as a witness then.  

 
I along with a couple hundred other guys.

 

[WNMECH]

Success or failure of this lawsuit does not depend on proving any pencil-whipping or proving that management was putting unsafe planes in the air.

The plaintiffs win this lawsuit if they show that management threatened, harrassed or interfered with the leadership of local 591.

The court in this case won't determine the validity of any of the alleged maintenance failures - that's the job of the FAA. And the FAA won't determine the validity of any of the alleged violations of the RLA; that's the court's job.

This is exactly how I see it also.
Also, I believe OSHA and the DOL handle the AIR21 Whistleblower complaints.

 

[bigjets]

 
I along with a couple hundred other guys.

 
 
I've never been asked or forced to sign anything off, or even work unsafe. I believe 591 used the wrong tactic of saying main is unsafe. 
 
Union officials being ignored is different from aircraft unsafe. 
 
I work at ORD

 

[swamt]

This is the second attempt to use AIR21 in the past two months -- first the UA FA's who didn't like smiley faces on the APU door, and now this.

I suspect both will fail to be seen by any court as having whistle-blower status. It's pretty obvious they chose to file this in Illinois where they have a better chance of getting a blue collar jury seated. I still doubt it gets that far.

You missed another one already in the works...