American Agrees to Record Bias Case Settlement

American Airlines, agreeing to a record monetary settlement in a disabilities-discrimination case, will pay a combined $1.7 million to 99 disabled people who claimed they were improperly denied jobs with the carrier, the Labor Department said Thursday.

American, the nation’s second-largest airline behind United and the main unit of AMR Corp. of Fort Worth, did not admit wrongdoing. The case already was 12 years old and settling “was the most expeditious and least expensive way” to conclude it, American spokesman Tim Kincaid said.

“We believe we fully complied with the laws as they existed at the time,” he said.

The 99 people were denied jobs as baggage handlers, mechanics, ticket agents and clerks at American facilities in Nashville and Detroit because American stated they had failed to pass medical-screening tests, the Labor Department said.

“The airline routinely disqualified applicants who failed to meet its standards for a number of medical conditions,” the agency said. In this case, American contended that it had “reasonable cause” to deny jobs to the 99 people “because of safety concerns,” the agency said.

But the Labor Department said it “found that American’s concerns had no medical basis and that each of them could have safely performed the jobs for which they had applied.”

The settlement, an average $17,171.72 per person, includes back pay and interest. American also has changed its medical-screening practices for job applicants at both facilities to bring them in compliance with federal laws.

Among other things, the airline no longer gives medical exams first as part of an applicant’s screening process, Kincaid said.

AMR’s stock rose 38 cents on Thursday to close at $33.75 a share in composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange.