Parts of Dornan Airline Suit Tentatively Rejected : Courts: Congressman’s lawyers told to amend complaint that he was mistreated by flight crew who kicked him off jet.

A Los Angeles County judge on Wednesday tentatively dismissed parts of a lawsuit filed against United Airlines by Rep. Robert K. Dornan, who alleges he was mistreated by crew members who kicked him off a jetliner.

Superior Court Judge Michael Berg ruled that the congressman’s claims of negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, improper ejection from a carrier, breach of contract and negligent misrepresentation fall under state law and therefore are not applicable to a lawsuit against a federally regulated airline.

However, the judge gave Dornan’s lawyers 20 days to amend the complaint and file claims allowable under federal law. He also let stand Dornan’s remaining two allegations of federal code violation and defamation of character.

The judge’s tentative ruling is a victory, said United Airlines attorney Burt Pines. “We’ve been able to pare down the lawsuit considerably,” he said.

On their part, attorneys for the seven-term Republican congressman from Garden Grove said Berg’s decision is only a temporary setback.

“For state law purposes, yes, those claims were dismissed. . . . We agreed to that,” said attorney Anthony F. Latiolait. “But it’s merely a question of us reasserting them under federal law. It’s not like (the allegations) are gone forever. We’ll just sue them for violations of federal law as well as what was in the complaint.”

The lawsuit was filed in response to an incident on April 30, 1991, in which Dornan was ordered off a Chicago-bound United Airlines flight because he refused to bring the back of his seat into an upright position before takeoff.

The congressman, who was on crutches, claimed he was given permission by two flight attendants on the plane to partly recline his seat. A third flight attendant, however, told him it had to be upright.

Dornan tried to explain that he had just undergone hip-replacement surgery and could not sit upright, his attorney said. The attendant warned the congressman he might be put off the plane if he did not comply. By that time, the plane was taxiing along a Los Angeles International Airport runway.

When the attendant reported Dornan’s refusal to cooperate, the pilot turned the plane around and taxied back to the terminal. Dornan eventually straightened his seat, his attorney said, but by then it was too late. Back at the terminal, Dornan was removed from the plane, which was ultimately destined for Washington.

Dornan contends in his lawsuit that he was humiliated by the captain and crew because they announced over the aircraft’s loudspeakers that the flight would be delayed because the plane had to turn around to drop off a passenger.

Pines argued Wednesday that explaining to passengers the reason for a plane’s turnabout was standard practice and that Dornan was never identified.

The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles last April, seeks unspecified general, special and punitive damages.