Under a proposed $38.75 million settlement to end one of the class action lawsuits it faces over abuses within its red light camera program, the city of Chicago could pay those who were ticketed under the program half of the money they paid to the city for the alleged wrongful $100 fines. Attorneys for the plaintiffs who brought the case, however, could drive off with more than $11 million in fees for their work, should a Cook County judge sign off on the deal.
A former United Airlines flight attendant will get another chance to press her class action lawsuit against her former employer, alleging the airline terminated her and other employees for missing work due to diabetes, claiming the condition is a disability and not merely a common illness.
With the recent spate of incidents aboard airliners, lawmakers are feeling pressure from their constituents to ban airlines from bumping passengers when overbooked. But a lawyer working in aviation law said passengers shouldn't let one incident overturn a system he says actually benefits passengers.
The man whose forceful removal from an airliner in Chicago sparked a national firestorm and potential legislation to end the airlines business practices blamed for precipitating the incident has settled with United Airlines, ending his threat of litigation against the airline over the incident.
The forced removal of a passenger from a flight in Chicago has caused a firestorm of debate over whether or not passengers can or should be forcibly removed from an airplane after they have boarded. A Chicago attorney who practices aviation law, with decades of experience as a lawyer and a pilot, says the airline acted within its rights to remove the passenger, but could have handled the situation better.
A decision by the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Ga., says employers are not required by the Americans with Disabilities Act to surrender the search for the best qualified candidate for a job when considering a disability accommodation job transfer request from a disabled employee.
With just hours to go before unionized airline support workers take to the picket lines for a scheduled strike at O’Hare International Airport, a Chicago federal judge has denied an attempt by one of the employers targeted by the work stoppage to bar its employees from participating in what it calls an illegal strike action.
An airline is under no obligation to make sure passengers and their baggage are transported on the same flight, an Illinois appeals court ruled, upholding a decision of a Cook County judge in dismissing a class action lawsuit on the question. Plaintiff Gina Spadoni had filed a single-count class-action lawsuit against United Airlines in Cook County Circuit Court in 2014, claiming the airline breached its contract with her when it placed her baggage on a different flight.
The former president and CEO of Chicago-based GoPicnic Brands, which specializes in the production of “healthy” and portable shelf-stable prepackaged meals, has sued Synergy Law Group, a Chicago law firm she said gave her bum legal advice and then partnered with venture capitalists to oust her from leadership of the company she helped found, allegedly costing her millions of dollars. On Dec. 31, Julia Stamberger filed a legal malpractice complaint in Cook County Circuit Court against Synergy.
CHICAGO – A traveler from Paris is suing United Airlines, alleging he was served an ice cream sundae containing shards of glass while aboard a flight from Chicago to Los Angeles.
A federal judge in Chicago has signed off on class action status for a lawsuit against the Air Line Pilots Association International, or ALPA, by management pilots for United Airlines, who complain they were not fairly compensated in a payout of $225 million in retroactive pay the association distributed on behalf of the airline.
The number of antitrust lawsuits continues to climb in federal courts around the U.S., including in Chicago, against the country’s major domestic airlines, accusing the airlines of colluding to keep their fares and fees artificially elevated. Nationally, federal court records reveal 75 such cases have been introduced in federal district courts against United, American, Southwest and Delta airlines. In Chicago, nine cases have been filed.
A fourth attempt by a pair of airline travelers to sue United for reducing their perks under a seniors program fell flat on Aug. 10, when a three-justice panel of the Illinois First District Appellate Court upheld the Cook County Circuit Court’s dismissal of the case.
An airline passenger is suing United Airlines, alleging she was injured while helping to close an overhead bin to prevent luggage from falling during an overseas flight.