Court: Air Workers Can Sue for Disability Bias

Airline and railroad workers can sue for disability discrimination, a federal appeals court ruled in the case of an airline mechanic who said he was fired because he was taking a legal marijuana substitute. In a 3-0 decision, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a federal judge’s ruling that would have required the mechanic to pursue his case through a grievance with his union, with limited damages. There is no ceiling on damages in the court suit. The court noted that it had previously allowed federally regulated transportation workers to sue for other types of discrimination even when their union contracts contained grievance procedures for discrimination. The mechanic, Spero Saridakis, worked for United Airlines at San Francisco International Airport from 1984 to 1996. He tested positive for cocaine in a random drug test in 1993. To keep his job, he agreed to submit to random drug tests for five years and to refrain from taking illegal or “medically unauthorized” drugs. Around the same time, Saridakis’ doctor prescribed Marinol to relieve the pain and insomnia he suffered from injuries. Saridakis informed his employer and continued submitting to random tests.

After a November 1995 test came back positive, the review officer told him that Marinol was “unauthorized” for pain and insomnia. He was fired in May 1996. His suit, claiming violations of the Americans With Disabilities Act and of a California anti-discrimination law, was dismissed by a U.S. district judge on the grounds that discrimination claims were covered by a union contract. The appeals court disagreed. William Dritsas, a lawyer for United, said the latest ruling is “unfortunate because it will continue to foster litigation and preclude parties from the more informal grievance resolution process set forth under the collective bargaining agreement.”