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Carrie McCrea Hanlon of Mills & Associates won a defense verdict in favor of defendant Alaska Airlines in the U.S. District Court, District of Nevada case of Ginena v. Alaska Airlines, Inc., 2:04-CV-01304-MMD-CWH. The Las Vegas Review Journal reports on Carrie’s success HERE. Alaska Airlines is a small but fast growing airline and is proud that this case will establish an important precedent that will benefit carriers nationwide. (Click HERE for a recent New York Times article highlighting Alaska Airlines’ success in the industry.)
The case involved nine Egyptian nationals who failed to obey instructions of uniformed crew members during a flight from Vancouver to Las Vegas and the plane was diverted to Reno. Plaintiffs claimed they were entitled to damages for having to book passage on another airline to complete their trip to Las Vegas and claimed defamation for the report of the incident which ultimately ended up in the hands of the Federal Air Marshals and the Joint Terrorism Task Force. (The incident occurred just 2 years after 9/11.) Plaintiffs asked the jury for 39 million dollars and were awarded nothing on either their delay or defamation claims. Carrie argued that the Captain’s decision to divert the flight was reasonable under the circumstances. Plaintiffs elected to not accept offers of judgment made early on in the case, thus exposing them to liability for Alaska Airlines’ attorneys’ fees.(Click HERE for more information on the value of serving Offers of Judgment.) Kudos to Carrie for her outstanding performance.
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