Northwest Smoking Suit Reinstated by Court

Lawyers for a Northwest Airlines Corp. flight attendant convinced a U.S. appeals court to reinstate a 1998 lawsuit that claims the airline exposed her and other flight attendants to secondhand smoke. Thursday’s decision by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals revives a suit that had been dismissed by a federal judge. The lawsuit, filed by flight attendant Julie Duncan, seeks damages on behalf of 4,000 nonsmoking flight attendants who served on Northwest flights to and from Asia. Northwest Airlines banned smoking on all trans-Pacific flights after Duncan’s lawsuit and appeal were filed. The Eagan, Minn.-based airline is now considering whether to appeal the decision, issued by a three-member panel of the 9th Circuit. “We don’t believe there’s any merit whatsoever to the lawsuit and we’re confident that, should this case ever come to a court, we’ll be successful in demonstrating that,” company spokesman Jon Austin said. Duncan’s suit, which seeks class-action status, accuses Northwest of breaching its duty to provide a safe and healthy work environment for employees. Northwest convinced the judge to dismiss Duncan’s suit by arguing that her action was preempted by the Airline Deregulation Act. Shares of Northwest rose 81 cents to close at $23.50 on Nasdaq.