“Robert Loblaw” at the blog Decision of the Day, has this post on the case of Cerqueira v. American Airlines. In sum, after being booted off the plane for some suspicious behavior, plaintiff John Cerqueiia, thought he would sue. After winning an award $130,000 in compensatory damages and $270,000 in punitive damages the case was appealed. The First Circuit reversed:
On appeal, the First Circuit vacates the award and grants judgment for the defendants. In an opinion that is heavy on the factual details of the incident – and particularly the facts as they appeared at the time to the key decision makers – the First concludes that the jury instructions were incorrect. Among other things, the district court refused to provide instructions about the security provisions of Federal Aviation Act that governed the captain’s actions. In light of the flawed instructions, the Court concludes that the verdict cannot stand.
Moreover, the Court concludes that there is no evidence to sustain the jury’s conclusion that the plaintiff was discriminated against because he appeared to be middle eastern. In particular, neither of the two key decision makers – the captain and a manager in American’s Dallas headquarters – even saw the plaintiff until trial, and there is no other evidence to suggest that their decision was based on assumptions about the plaintiff’s race. Accordingly, the defendants are entitled to judgment notwithstanding the verdict.
Irrespective of the appellate decision, the initial jury verdict of $400,000 says a lot about how justice seems proportionality unfair and unmeasured given the facts of this case.
(Earlier at Overlawyered: Jan. 17.) Update Mar. 2: Cerqueira responds.