A conflict that occurred on an American Airlines (AAL) -) flight earlier this year now appears to be on its way to court.
A judge in Portland, Ore., has rejected a request by American Airlines for the case to be decided without a trial.
DON'T MISS: Costco brings back a favorite (members will love it)
The case, now in small claims court, involves a woman with 18-month-old twins who was traveling Feb. 4 from Portland, Ore. to Tallahassee, Fla., with a layover in Dallas.
On the Dallas to Tallahassee leg of the flight, an alleged dispute occurred before takeoff about how her twins were traveling.
The passenger, Erika Hamilton, 36 — a Portland lawyer — had purchased tickets for one of the infants to travel on her lap and the other to sit on the seat next to her.
American Airlines policy allows for infants to travel in seats without car seats provided they are able to sit up straight. Hamilton's daughter was able to do that, Hamilton said.
A flight attendant told her the infant was required to use a car seat, Hamilton said. Hamilton insisted a seat was not required and pointed out the policy to the flight attendant on American Airlines' website, Hamilton said.
This dispute became a conflict and it escalated, Hamilton said. She began to fear she would be kicked off the flight. A woman behind her offered to hold the infant on her lap during the flight.
After some discussion, this was allowed and the passengers proceeded to travel in this fashion.
The decision to sue
Hamilton arrived in Tallahassee and said she was ready to put the incident behind her. She first wanted to be sure she would get a refund from American Airlines for the seat not used and perhaps a voucher for future travel.
She inquired about such a reimbursement and was denied. She then decided to take American Airlines to court in an effort to recover damages.
That's when American Airlines filed a motion for summary judgment — the legal procedure that asked the judge in the case to resolve the suit without a trial.
The Circuit Court of the State of Oregon for Multnomah County on Aug. 23 issued its ruling.
"The court orders that Defendant's motion for summary judgment is denied," the ruling said, according to court documents obtained by TheStreet.
Shutterstock
Hamilton reacts to the development
Hamilton said she was fighting this in court based on a principle.
"One of the benefits of small claims court is that it is an informal process that can put ordinary people on the same footing as billion dollar corporations — to allow them to seek redress for wrongs and to hold such corporations accountable," she told TheStreet through email, reacting to the ruling.
"The Judge's ruling makes clear to me that, in Oregon, the courts are committing to providing that fair forum; despite the fact that American Airlines hired corporate lawyers and likely expended exorbitant sums of money in attorney time filing its motion and reply with the court, the court summarily denied American Airlines' request for relief in a single sentence," Hamilton wrote.
"I have full confidence in Oregon's judicial system, and I look forward to using the informal small claims forum to share with the court my experience on that American Airlines flight," she continued.
Hamilton expressed her view that she had hoped the airline had handled things differently.
I wish we weren't at this point, and I wish American Airlines would do the right thing without forcing me to go through this process.
From an objective perspective, the time investment required is not worth whatever I will recover at the end of the day. But as I have said from the beginning, I truly believe that it is important to stand up to bullies, and I think American Airlines is being a bully — of course it is their right to fight any litigation, but I think it's telling that they would rather spend more time and money fighting this case than it would cost them just to make things right with me.
This is my personal David and Goliath tale, but I encourage all people — and especially parents — to stand up for themselves and advocate for themselves and their families even in the face of a behemoth.
The case is likely to go to court in October, Hamilton said.
At the time of publication, American Airlines had not responded to a request for comment on the motion for summary judgment ruling or any aspect of this case.
Get exclusive access to portfolio managers and their proven investing strategies with Real Money Pro. Get started now.
