Terrorist 'lookalike' wins $27.5 million from Southwest

[rotornut]

Terrorist 'lookalike' wins $27.5m

Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
Thursday April 13, 2006
Guardian

An economics professor from California who was arrested because a flight attendant thought she looked like a terrorist has been awarded $27.5m (£15.7m).
In a victory for critics of racial profiling, a jury in El Paso, Texas, ordered Southwest Airlines to pay damages to Samantha Carrington for false imprisonment and malicious prosecution after she was bundled off a flight and arrested because flight attendants found her appearance suspicious.

Ms Carrington, who is of Iranian origin, had been returning to Los Angeles from Houston, where her mother was being treated for cancer, in 2003 when flight attendants had her arrested during a scheduled stop in El Paso.

In court documents, three attendants accused Ms Carrington of grabbing them and of threatening to go into the cockpit unless they called the pilot. Ms Carrington maintains that she complained only about poor in-flight service. Criminal charges were never filed after an FBI officer assigned to investigate said he did not believe the flight attendants' version. Southwest denied its attendants acted improperly. But later, its president wrote to apologise for the "heinous" incident, offering tickets in compensation.

Ms Carrington said she felt vindicated by the verdict but has been unable to clear her name from terror watchlists.

Southwest said it would appeal.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,329456597-110878,00.html

[eal401]

In a victory for critics of racial profiling,
Not to mention the victory for her bank account. :suspect:

[neil armstrong]

wasnt there a old British guy in a South African jail by request of the US?
Didt it come out that it was a case of mis identification ,they had the same name ,they found out after some weeks in jail!
What is the chance of this guy getting the same money from the US goverment?


Neil

[Norman Stanley Fletcher]

Clearly some offence was caused to the lady concerned. Nonetheless this award is absolutely ludicrous and totally out of all proportion to the offence caused. Clearly, however, it would be a shame to look a gift horse in the mouth. I would like to volunteer myself to any airline anywhere in the world and they can verbally abuse me as much as they want for as long as they want. My charge will only be $10million - less than half the price!

[bealine]

Let's hope SouthWest have more luck in the appeal court!

It just goes to show - the only people to make money in the USA are the lawyers and the criminals - surely claiming such ridiculous damages is criminal???

[Check 6]

"It is not about the money. This is a victory for all victims of profiling."










CHING CHING!

[Globaliser]

Sorry, NSF, the bulk of the award was punitive!! :p That breakdown actually just underlines how crazy US damages have become.

$2.5 million for "emotional suffering" is wild over-compensation at its best.

And then putting a $25 million windfall "lottery win" into the claimant's pocket on some spurious "punitive" basis has no proper jurisprudential logic behind it. Why should a company be punished to that extent on the basis of a civil claim? Shouldn't punishment be meted out only by criminal courts, with proper criminal law/procedure safeguards for the scrupulous fairness that's demanded in that field? And - even if there were some regulatory argument in favour of punitive damages on this scale - what is the justification for putting the fruits of that punishment into the pocket of the person who, by chance, happens to be the person with a case to bring?

[ExSimGuy]

I suspect that I'm "profiled", when travelling on USA flights. I have usually come from the Middle-East and transiting (via LHR and LGW) to an American flight.

I wear a beard, of similar style to that which is popular among a lot of Arabs (no, not the "long shaggy" type! - just small beard and mustache) it just naturally grows that way with me. I also have a dark complexion (working in the Middle-East, often outdoors - I call it a tan, especially in the Summer!) and a passport almost full to the brim with stamps in Arabic (I have a good friend in the next country ;) to visit often on weekends)

So I find myself frequently the "randomly seleted" pax for extra security - about 50% of the time! Maybe I haven't noticed the "random selection" tattoo on my forhead!!

However the security guys/gals are always courteous, and it doesn't cost me tooooo much pre-flight-beer-time, so I don't really mind, they are doing their job (as it should be done, to my mind)

Not their fault that the "profiling" does not give them the information that I am "Anglo-Saxon and Celt" in origin, a practicing Christian, and occasional lay preacher, C of E := (US - "Episcopalian")

Could I claim, maybe, at least, please, just a couple of mill?:E

[radeng]

Bearing in mind the attitude to customers, the manners, and the general attitude of cabin staff in the US, seems to me that a good swingeing fine might, just might, persuade airlines in the US to hammer into the rude, uncaring, don't-give-a-damn, you're-lucky-we-let-you-on-board-at-all types that seem to form 99.9% of their cabin crew that maybe, occasionally, the customer is right.
Any complaint about lack of service is likely to get someone branded as a troublemaker, even to the point of calling for security when they arrive. So fine the airlines, and fire some of those cabin crew!
I hate travelling in the US. Even First isn't as good as BA economy!

[Ultralights]

just what exactly is Punitive damges? we have the emotional suffering, whats the Punitive part?
the rude, uncaring, don't-give-a-damn, you're-lucky-we-let-you-on-board-at-all types that seem to form 99.9% of their cabin crew that maybe, occasionally, the customer is right.
dont forget most pax these days pay more for a Bus fare than an air fare these days!

you get what you pay for... i have seen pax entering the terminal with plastic shopping bags! (assuming they were getting on a flight somewhere) and people boarding wearing flannel shirts and tracksuit pants! when air travel is reduced to an airborne public transport system to rival train and bus travel, just what level of service do you expect?

[Norman Stanley Fletcher]

Mike Jenvey - I don't care how my $10 million is made up. Emotional distress, punitive damages....whatever! Just show me the money!

[419]

Ultralights,
Under the U.S. legal system, there are 2 types of damages that can be levied on a person or company. Compensation and Punitive.
The compensation part is obvious as to its reason.

Punitive damages are not given as compensation, but are designed to punish the guilty party, and to deter them from following the same course of action that caused the problem in the first place.

I can see the logic of punitive damages, but I can't see why it's paid to the person who won the case, as they've already had their compensation.

[Bangkokeasy]

Reading the article, it would appear that maybe there is more to this than meets the eye. Particularly the reaction of the FBI investigator would tend to indicate that there was maybe an unsucessful attempt to deflect criticism from the crew using the "security" card.

That said, I think it is a very dangerous thing to avoid profiling of customers in the genuine interest of security. I do not use the word "racial", because there are other factors and that to use that word makes the subject controversial in a way it shouldn't be. I feel sorry for those who fit the profile, but the fact is that, pretty much ALL the terrorist outrages in recent years have been perpetrated by people who fit a narrow profile within the travelling public. To officially ignore this fact and therby to divert resources away from this group, certainly makes it less likely we are going to catch the next one before they can do something horrendous again.

And as for the financial settlement - boy oh boy, never mind the punitive damages, but two point five mil for a few hours of discomfort and a court process? Bring it on!!!

[slim_slag]

Who knows, maybe one or more of the jurors had been badly treated by an airline (quite likely) at some stage and this was payback time. They might have assumed Southwest was insured, and one or more of the jurors had been badly treated by an insurance company (quite likely) and this was payback time. One way of looking at it is that it's the fear of payouts like these which keep corporations more honest that they might otherwise be.

Southwest flight attendents are some of the best and friendliest out there, a bit of a shame Southwest got landed with this. As for USA airline first class being worse than BA economy, utter nonsense. Southwest economy class has better seat pitch than BA economy, and far better customer service - and Jet Blue economy class is even better still. A US carrier short haul first class seat is better than a BA economy seat in all ways, and even better than a BA club Europe short haul seat.

[The SSK]

I bet the CFO of Southwest is suffering emotionally over this. Maybe he can sue the judge?

[MarkD]

419

I agree - punitive damages should be a fine which accrues to the State, not enriching individuals.

[radeng]

slimslg,
I wasn't talking about seat pitch, but FA attitude. Universally cr*p amongst airlines in the US. Possibly understandable when you look at the way so many have been treated on pay and pensions etc, but it doesn't alter the fact that most of the time, they are barely polite - even in first. I've travelled first class 6 times in the US this year, and been totally unimpressed. Been 22 times on BA this year,though and they've been good every time.

[slim_slag]

Ah I see, never crossed my mind that was what you were meaning. Well, there are cultural differences between the two which can be pooly understood by people who haven't spent many years living and working in both countries. A simple example might be that you don't often hear Americans saying 'Please', but that's not being rude, they will wait until they thank you which they almost always do. Brits are now losing the ability to say thank you. Even within the US there are differences, New Yorkers are considered ruder than Californians - yet when a New Yorker moves to California they suddenly become all nice and obsequious :) They also say that Americans can be friendly without being nice, Brits can be nice without being friendly. Or is it the other way round?

Still, I would wager that most Brits would say American face-to-face customer service is in general better than British customer service, and I would agree. So you claim a 100% bad experience with Americans, and 100% good experience with Brits, and I would say your experiences are unusual.

I'm still surprised this happened on Southwest. Had it been AA or BA I would be less so. Maybe it's a One World thing :)

[Pax Vobiscum]

I would wager that most Brits would say American face-to-face customer service is in general better than British customer service, and I would agree.
On the whole, I agree as well. The lowliest server in a Macdonalds get's a strict grounding in how to treat customers, and those that don't 'get it' don't stay around very long. This makes it doubly difficult to understand why the service on most US airlines (even in First) is so cr@p (could it be a union thing???) and has been for many years.

I've never had the opportunity to fly Southwest, so I can't comment on them, but I've flown with most of the US majors (and many of the minors) and have to agree with radeng that the FAs don't stand comparison with BA.

[wombat13]

In the US during 2003 (any time really post 9/11), innocent people would sooner be accused of almost anything before being accused a terrorist.

Staff of the company committed two wrongs:

First they discriminated against her.

Second, they then conspired against her.

To those who have trouble understanding the level of comp', I suggest you will find a most substantial part of it was for the second offence. The jury of her peers set the comp'.

Good luck to her.

The Wombat

[Globaliser]

To those who have trouble understanding the level of comp', I suggest you will find a most substantial part of it was for the second offence. The jury of her peers set the comp'.Still waaaaay too much money, no matter who set it. Juries aren't always right.

[Bangkokeasy]

To my knowledge, female terrorists in circumstances such as this are extremely rare. Wasn't there a Chechen woman who brought down a plane in the CIS a year or so ago? But I think that may be the only one?

In the story above, it also mentioned that she was unable to clear her name from the watch list. Once you are on that list is that it for ever? Or is it actually possible to clear your name if innocent, as she would appear to be? If it is not possible to get her name off the list, then I would say that in itself is grounds for fairly substantial compensation.

[ant1]

Reminds me of the movie Anger Management (http://www.reelingreviews.com/angermanagement.htm)

[radeng]

I've got a trip next month on AA. 2 business class transatlantic, 4 internal flights, 3 of those American Eagle, one AA First class. We'll see how that turns out, but past experience tells me not to hope for too much.
And if they get a grounding in customer service........Last year, radeng is flying America West from San Diego to Phoenix to get BA289 to LHR - a published connection in those days. America West 'plane delayed, request for everyone to go to the desk for re-routing. I get there, woman asks'What's you final destination tonight, sir?'
Radeng: 'London Heathrow'
AW employee :'Oh sh*t!'
Just out loud, just like that.........
We all think it, BUT..........