Lawsuit claims NY workplace bias laws don't apply to airlines
By Daniel Wiessner
Aug 1 (Reuters) -A trade group representing major U.S. airlines has sued a New York state civil rights agency accusing it of improperly trying to use state anti-discrimination laws to eliminate airlines' limits on paid sick leave for employees.
The lawsuit filed in Brooklyn federal court on Wednesday is at least the fourth by Airlines for America to claim that states are improperly requiring airlines to provide paid leave for routine doctor's appointments and "transitory" medical conditions.
A federal judge in Boston last year agreed with the group that a Massachusetts paid sick leave law was preempted by a federal law regulating airlines. The group also has lawsuits pending against Colorado and Illinois.
Wednesday's lawsuit was prompted by an administrative complaint that the New York Division of Human Rights filed last November claiming American Airlines discriminates against flight attendants based on disability and sex by disciplining them for missing work over certain medical issues, including for routine pregnancy-related appointments.
Airlines for America says a state anti-bias law does not cover those kinds of absences and that even if it did, the law is preempted by the federal Airline Deregulation Act, which bars states from adopting laws that affect the "price, route, or service" offered by an air carrier.
Finding otherwise would lead to an increase in worker absences, which in turn would cause flight delays, cancellations, and longer lines at ticket counters and gates, the lawsuit says.
Airlines for America has ten members including American, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, FedEx and UPS.
The Division of Human Rights did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
In the Massachusetts case, U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs last year found that a state law mandating paid sick leave had triggered an increase in sick days taken by airline employees. She also said that "sick leave abuse" was common in the airline industry, pointing to a spike in absences on weekends and holidays.
Airlines for America in Wednesday's lawsuit says the New York Division of Human Rights is similarly interfering with airlines' ability to use attendance policies common in the industry in which workers receive points for absences and can be disciplined or fired if they accumulate too many.
The lawsuit seeks a declaration that New York law, as interpreted by the Division of Human Rights, is preempted by the federal airline law.
The case is Airlines for America v. Miranda, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, No. 1:24-cv-05387.
For Airlines for America: Mark Robertson and Charles Mahoney of O'Melveny & Myers
For the state: Not available
Read more:
Judge sends airlines’ challenge to Mass. sick leave law to trial
Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York
免責聲明: XM Group提供線上交易平台的登入和執行服務，允許個人查看和/或使用網站所提供的內容，但不進行任何更改或擴展其服務和訪問權限，並受以下條款與條例約束：（i）條款與條例；（ii）風險提示；（iii）完全免責聲明。網站內部所提供的所有資訊，僅限於一般資訊用途。請注意，我們所有的線上交易平台內容並不構成，也不被視為進入金融市場交易的邀約或邀請 。金融市場交易會對您的投資帶來重大風險。
所有缐上交易平台所發佈的資料，僅適用於教育/資訊類用途，不包含也不應被視爲適用於金融、投資稅或交易相關諮詢和建議，或是交易價格紀錄，或是任何金融商品或非應邀途徑的金融相關優惠的交易邀約或邀請。
本網站的所有XM和第三方所提供的内容，包括意見、新聞、研究、分析、價格其他資訊和第三方網站鏈接，皆爲‘按原狀’，並作爲一般市場評論所提供，而非投資建議。請理解和接受，所有被歸類為投資研究範圍的相關内容，並非爲了促進投資研究獨立性，而根據法律要求所編寫，而是被視爲符合營銷傳播相關法律與法規所編寫的内容。請確保您已詳讀並完全理解我們的非獨立投資研究提示和風險提示資訊，相關詳情請點擊 這裡查看。
