PSA Settles Blind Man’s $1-Million Suit

A blind man who sued Pacific Southwest Airlines for $1 million after he and his guide dog were forced off an airliner in a seating dispute has settled out of court for an undisclosed sum, officials said Friday.

Michael Hingson, 36, and San Diego-based PSA reached agreement before U.S. District Judge Francis Whelan on Thursday, settling a six-year legal battle over charges of physical abuse and discrimination against the blind.

“It is a victory for blind people and we certainly think this is a landmark case,” Sharon Gold, president of the nonprofit National Federation of the Blind in California, said from Sacramento.

The suit charged that Hingson was denied his right to join other passengers aboard a PSA jetliner in Los Angeles while he was on a business trip. Gold said PSA officials demanded that Hingson sit in a bulkhead seat with his dog. She said Hingson tried to explain that it would be more comfortable and safer to take a regular passenger seat with his dog settling in front of him. “He was bodily ejected from a PSA plane by PSA-summoned police who injured his hand, tore off his Braille watch and took his guide dog by force,” Gold said.

PSA spokesman Bill Hastings said, “There was a settlement and there was a compensation item and agreement to meet at a later date.”

Hingson, who now owns The System Connection computer firm in Mission Viejo, said Friday he was pleased with the outcome: “We (blind people) are all going to benefit. The biggest thing is we are going to get a meeting with PSA to work with them on policy and come up with training procedures.”