Legal Assistance Foundation

IL Supreme Court: State wrong to deny unemployment benefits to American Airlines worker fired for upgrading passenger

By Jonathan Bilyk | Friday, Feb 5, 2016 @ 12:57pm

An American Airlines worker who was fired by the airline for helping a passenger secure a seating upgrade and some champagne for the flight has been cleared to collect unemployment benefits, after the Illinois Supreme Court found, since the worker did nothing illegal or obviously wrong, American Airlines’ lack of clear, written governing how to give passenger upgrades negated the airline’s claims it had the right to fire the worker for “misconduct.”