Thursday, September 24, 2026
Page 4
Ninth Circuit:
Airline Immune From Liability to Handcuffed Passenger
By a MetNews Staff Writer
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday affirmed a post-verdict grant of summary judgment in favor of Delta Air Lines. Inc. in an action brought by a man who was restrained, in-flight, by a law enforcement officer in response to concerns that he was acting strangely, with a dissenter arguing that a jury’s award of $7,225,000 to the plaintiff evidences a material triable issue as to the nature of the conduct.
Circuit Judge Jacqueline H. Nguyen wrote the majority opinion which affirms a judgment by District Court Judge Dale S. Fischer of the Central District of California. She was joined by Circuit Judge Daniel A. Bress.
Fifth Circuit Judge Stephen A. Higginson, sitting by designation, dissented.
At issue was whether Delta enjoyed immunity under 49 U.S. Code § 44941(a), a portion of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (“ATSA”), which provides:
“Any… employee of an air carrier… who makes a voluntary disclosure of any suspicious transaction relevant to a possible violation of law or regulation…relating to…a threat to aircraft or passenger safety… any employee or agent of the Department of Transportation, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, any Federal, State, or local law enforcement officer…shall not be civilly liable to any person under any law or regulation of the United States, any constitution, law, or regulation of any State or political subdivision of any State, for such disclosure.”
Odd Conduct
Lead flight attendant Joy Rodemoyer, about 45 minutes into a flight on May 29, 2015, from Atlanta to Salt Lake City, conveyed to Nicholas Vahe, a special agent for the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration who happened to be onboard, that passenger Aref Bandary was behaving oddly. His conduct included walking up and down the aisles, photographing stewardesses, staring at passengers, and screaming.
Vahe recited in a statement:
“I identified myself to the subject and requested that he calm down and turn around so he can be restrained. In response to my request, the subject screamed that he was Egyptian and that was not a terrorist. As I stepped closer to him he pointed at me with his face turning red screamed he hated America. He screamed he hated America multiple times as he was disobeying my commands to turn around. The subject had a very strong odor of alcohol on his breath and appeared to be intoxicated.”
The officer placed plastic handcuffs on Bandary.
He sued under the Montreal Convention governing injuries to passengers.
Fisher’s Ruling
In vacating a jury verdict in favor of Bandary and granting summary judgment in favor of Delta, Fisher relied on §44941(a), saying:
“Implicit in immunity for making reports to law enforcement is immunity from liability for whatever law enforcement might do with those reports.”
She found that there was “no evidence in the record to suggest that flight attendant Joy Rodemoyer contacted Vahe for any reason other than to report activity that she suspected violated laws related to passenger safety.”
Agreeing, Nguyen wrote:
“Holding an airline civilly liable for conduct flowing from its employees’ disclosure to law enforcement would chill their willingness to report and substantially defeat the purpose of the statute….We therefore hold that, consistent with the text and purpose of the statute, ATSA immunity applies to conduct that flows from law enforcement’s decisions following a suspicious disclosure.”
Visiting Judge’s Dissent
Higginson said in his dissent:
“I depart from my colleagues’ well-reasoned opinion in one, determinative respect: the district court erred in granting summary judgment to Delta, as the jury’s verdict demonstrates a genuine dispute of material fact as to whether Bandary acted suspiciously.”
Considering the evidence “and above all the jury’s special verdict finding no suspiciousness, there was at least a triable issue of fact as to whether Bandary behaved suspiciously,” Higginson wrote.
The case is Bandary v. Delta Air Lines, Inc., 24-7204.
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