[Always Right]

This jury needs to be hung for stupidity.

[Peach]

Here we go. More capitulation to the Muslims.

[taxcontrol]

Excessive award.

Max payment should have been 3 times the price of the ticket.

[Fairview]

I wish American would pull me from the queue and hassle me $400,000 worth. It never happens, though. Even when I forget and bring a big bottle of shampoo with me. Damn.

[RexBeach]

Another super example of everyone's apparent right to be outraged...and get paid for it.

Figures that some screwed up jury of nitwits in MA would render such a verdict and award.

Sheesh. The jurors were probably jealous.

Remember my new motto for the Bay State: "No outrage is too small; no tax is too big; and no sacrifice is necessary."

[subterfuge]

After a six-day trial in US District Court in Boston, jurors on Friday found that American Airlines discriminated against Cerqueira because of race or national origin, and ordered it to pay him $130,000 in compensatory damages and $270,000 in punitive damages.

I wish I could hit the jackpot like this guy. I think it's wrong and out of line with the "crime", but if them's the rules it would be great to pony up to the trough. Of course it couldn't happen for me since I'm of the race that no discrimination can't be taken against.

[saganite]

American airlines screwed up. The police questioned the guy for 2 hours, cleared him, and the other 2 by the way who were Israelis, and still the airline wouldn't board him. Sometimes the business involved in these cases really is wrong. In any case the award will be reduced on appeal. The guy will probably wind up with much less than this jury award.

[From One - Many]

Let's add this up......
$400,000 dollars awarded
Pilots without control of who rides the planes
Equals
moose with missions to gain money and intelligence
regarding security being lessened.

A terrible can of worms to open, but now the lid is off the can.

[eraser2005]

FYI - if you looked up a little about this guy, you'd see another reason for him to be po'd...

He was in the North Tower on the 81st floor when it was struck - he and a coworker helped a woman in a wheelchair down 68 floors.

Link to USA Today story

[jammer]

"I'm grateful to the jury for sending the message to American Airlines that just the use of the word security isn't an excuse for unlawful behavior."

Should be, "I'm grateful to the jury for stealing $200k for me and $200k for my lawyers from AA."

[mkjessup]

And in a related thread this morning on FR, while 'security' is supposed to be such a paramount concern of the federal government and the airlines, it was reported that over *3700* TSA badges and uniforms have gone missing, and are unaccounted for.

Maybe they'll show up in the Norman Mineta Secure Skies Memorial Museum one day.

[doc30]

After reading the article, this guy deserves the award he got. He was detained and interrogated for 2 hours for simply accidentally being next to the suspicious passengers. After he was cleared by the police, who even told him that he was unfortunate to have been next to these two, he should have been allowed on the flight. American Airlines was clearly in the wrong, but persisted in denying him travel home. AA should have been hit with a bigger verdict, IMHO. I am shocked that so many people here have this knee-jerk reaction that this was some kind of muslim-placating court decision when that was completely irrelevant to the case! Read the article. This was an innocent American citizen who was denied flying for no justifiable reason! People on that flight probably thought he was a terrorism suspect and he will have to live people thinking that of him. By denying him a seat on that flight, the airline simply confirmed what people on that flight were thinking - he's a bad guy. That's wrong.

[BuffaloJack]

I am both insulted and in awe of how stupid this is.
Profiling is the single most effective means to protect our country with the resources available.
Taking this tool away is surrendering to the enemy.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Did he lose a $400,000 deal because of the missed flight?

Award seems excessive.

[pandoraou812]

I feel this way about flying. If I am going to fly I am going to be searched and maybe profiled. Don't we all want to fly safely? I think the airlines went a bit overboard. There must be more to this story . Maybe he was nasty to them ...I don't know... If the airline felt they didn't want him on one of their planes I think they ought to have that right....He sued and got a good amount, I wouldn't have awarded him that much.... If we want to be safe while flying then we are going to have to deal with this kind of stuff. Airlines should make it clear if they feel you are a threat then they have the right to deny you a flight.

[FairOpinion]

New way to make easy money, if you have dark skin: act suspicious so the airline kicks you off (for good reason), then sue for discrimination and win lots of $$$$$.

Of course if the airline doesn't kick off suspicious passengers and they turn out to be terrorists and blow up the plane, all passengers are going to sue for wrongful death.

[Tzimisce]

what happened to the right to refuse service?

[Courdeleon02]

An absurd judgment $400,000 is ridiculous. It decisions like this that will bankrupt American business. I hope there is an appeal.

[Gritty]

[BuffaloJack]

It's liberals like this who sue for trivial reasons that cost us all more money through litigation.
Profiling is good. Refund the price of his ticket or ask him to check his carry-ons so that there would be no chance of concealing a weapon. It is the captain's decision.
To fee outrage is just to be like the enemy. If his name was on a suspicious persons list, or he was acting suspicious then confront him. But an award of $400K will just make the price of flying higher to everyone.
The USA is at war and this carries with it different methods that must be imposed to keep us secure.