Rubin v. United Air Lines, Inc.

• Decision Date: 20 February 2002
• Docket Number: No. B149679.,B149679.
• Citation: 117 Cal.Rptr.2d 109,96 Cal.App.4th 364
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: Adrienne RUBIN, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. UNITED AIR LINES, INC., Defendant and Respondent.

117 Cal.Rptr.2d 109

96 Cal.App.4th 364

Adrienne RUBIN, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. UNITED AIR LINES, INC., Defendant and Respondent.

No. B149679.

Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 7.

February 20, 2002.

Steven A. Blum, Santa Monica, for Plaintiff and Appellant.

Dwyer, Daly, Brotzen & Bruno, Peter P. Brotzen, Los Angeles, and Gregory L. Anderson for Defendant and Respondent.

JOHNSON, Acting P.J.

An airline passenger brought suit against an airline and others after Los Angeles Police Department officers removed her from a commercial flight about to depart for Hawaii. Her suit alleged causes of action for false arrest, false imprisonment, assault, battery and emotional distress. The airline claimed it was entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law because a provision of the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 expressly preempted her state law tort claims.¹ In the alternative, the airline claimed it was also entitled to judgment as a matter of law because it acted within its statutory discretion by refusing to transport a passenger it decided was, or might be, inimical to airline safety.² The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the airline.

We hold a passenger whom the airline believes is, or might become, inimical to the safety of the aircraft or its passengers may be ejected from a flight without subjecting the airline to tort liability if at the time airline personnel had a reasonable basis for believing the passenger presented a safety risk. We further conclude the airline's actions in this case were reasonable as a matter of law. Accordingly, we affirm the summary judgment.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW

Appellant, Ms. Adrienne Rubin, decided to join her husband, Stanford Rubin, a trusts and estates attorney who was then in Hawaii. She purchased an airline ticket from respondent United Airlines, Inc. (United). She paid for a coach ticket and upgraded the ticket to first class by using her husband's frequent flyer miles.

On October 28, 1998, Ms. Rubin arrived at the Los Angeles International Airport approximately an hour before the plane was scheduled to depart. She went directly to the gate with her bags.

She waited in line a long time before she could present her ticket to the agent at the gate. Ms. Rubin had a first class itinerary card with a seat designation of 2F. However, the United computer showed no firstclass reservation for her. The agent explained Ms. Rubin needed to surrender an additional 3,000 frequent flyer miles to qualify for a first class upgrade because, for some reason, 3,000 miles had been recredited to her husband's account. The agent directed Ms. Rubin to the customer service counter nearby.

Approximately 30 minutes remained before the flight for Hawaii was to depart. It took nearly 15 minutes for Ms. Rubin to reach the front of the line at the customer service counter. When the United agent finally located Ms. Rubin's frequent flyer account on the computer she discovered Ms. Rubin did not have the needed 3,000 miles in her account. Ms. Rubin told the agent to take the miles from her husband's account. Only 10 or so minutes remained before the plane was due to take off. The agent told Ms. Rubin to go to the gate while she continued to try to locate

Mr. Rubin's frequent flyer account number.

Ms. Rubin went to the gate and told the gate agent she had a first class seat and wanted to board. The agent responded all first class seats on the flight had already been assigned. He explained the flight was very full but two or three seats were available in the coach section. The agent offered Ms. Rubin the option of taking one of the seats in coach or flying first class on a later flight. He apparently did not indicate a specific coach seat assignment. Ms. Rubin explained she had to leave on this flight because she and her husband had an engagement later in the day she did not want to miss. Ms. Rubin was adamant about wanting a first class seat, and on this particular flight.

The gate agent notified the service director on board there was a person about to board who was insisting on leaving on this flight and insisting on a first class seat. The service director decided he would at least accommodate Ms. Rubin's wishes to leave on this flight.

The service director met Ms. Rubin in the jetway. Ms. Rubin told the service director she had a first class ticket, a seat assignment of 2F, and could not understand why the airline had given her seat away. Ms. Rubin told the service director she had to fly first class because she had a special diet. The director reiterated all first class seats were now assigned and occupied. He explained if she wanted to take this fight she would have to fly coach in seat 26B.

Ms. Rubin entered the plane. She did not go to seat 26B in coach. According to Ms. Rubin, the service director did not specify any particular seat but told her she could sit anywhere in coach. Instead, Ms. Rubin entered (or attempted to enter)' the first class cabin to determine for herself whether seat 2F was in fact occupied. As the service director put it, "that's when the hair came up on the back of my neck because, ... you're violating everything that it's about, because it was clearly stated to Mrs. Rubin that the first-class seats were full."

The purser of an aircraft has primary responsibility for the safety of the passengers and has ultimate authority over the other flight attendants. When she saw Ms. Rubin enter (or attempt to enter) the first class cabin, the purser, according to Ms. Rubin, "went ballistic." Ms. Rubin got into a lengthy and loud discussion with the purser. The service director intervened and again directed Ms. Rubin to take her seat in 26B. Instead, Ms. Rubin dropped her luggage in the doorway of the aircraft and took a bulkhead emergency row seat immediately behind the first class section. The service director told Ms. Rubin to store her bag. Ms. Rubin refused and told the director he could do it himself or have someone else store the bag if he wished. The service director and another stewardess repeatedly told Ms. Rubin she could not sit in row 9 either, both because she had been assigned seat 26B, and because she was not "emergency row qualified."

The service director left to consult with the purser. The purser, in the meantime, had already talked to the captain. The purser told the captain she had an irate passenger on board who refused to follow directions and who had attempted to make an unauthorized entry into the first class section. Based on the purser's representations, the captain agreed Ms. Rubin's demeanor and refusal to follow directions had the potential to create a safety problem in flight. The purser told the service director she would not fly if Ms. Rubin remained on board. The captain, purser and service director decided Ms. Rubin should be deplaned.

When the service director returned to the cabin Ms. Rubin was no longer sitting in row 9. She was instead sitting in another person's seat who had been in the lavatory. The person whose seat Ms. Rubin occupied was now sitting on the armrest of an aisle seat. The service director told Ms. Rubin she would have to deplane. In response, she instead finally took her assigned seat in 26B. By this time the flight was at least 15 minutes past schedule for takeoff. The other passengers were becoming impatient and unruly. Some yelled at United personnel suggesting they do something to regain control of the situation.

A gate agent came on board to take Ms. Rubin off the plane. Ms. Rubin was talking loudly on her cell phone. She refused to acknowledge his presence or mission. He could not get Ms. Rubin to pay attention to him or to stop talking on the telephone. He left the plane in frustration. Now the flight was some 20 to 25 minutes past departure time. United personnel decided to call the Los Angeles Airport Police.

Passengers started applauding when the police officers boarded the plane. The Los Angeles police officers asked Ms. Rubin to leave the plane. Ms. Rubin kept interrupting to explain she believed she had a first class seat assignment and could not understand why United had given her seat away. The officers told Ms. Rubin the airplane was not going to take off with her on it. Ms. Rubin refused to leave the plane voluntarily. She refused to leave her seat, refused to stand up and refused to walk. The officers had to pick Ms. Rubin up out of her seat and carry her by her shoulders off the plane. As they proceeded in this fashion through the aisles passengers applauded and whistled. They also yelled and hurled wads of paper at Ms. Rubin.

In the view of one officer, the situation on board was "a mob scene." He believed the other passengers were so frustrated and upset with Ms. Rubin because of the trouble and delay, he believed if United had permitted Ms. Rubin to stay on the flight "it could have gotten ugly."

The officers took Ms. Rubin off the plane. Her luggage was still where she had dropped it in the doorway. The service director removed her bag to the jetway.

The officers detained Ms. Rubin at the police station for several hours. The officers contacted the Federal Aviation Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigations as is required when investigating a potential federal charge of obstructing a flight crew. A representative from the F.A.A. arrived and interviewed Ms. Rubin, as did a sergeant from the Los Angeles Police Department. Ultimately, Ms. Rubin was not charged. The officers returned Ms. Rubin to the airport and she flew first class on the next flight to Hawaii.

Ms. Rubin filed suit against United, the City of Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles police officers who removed her from the plane.³ Her complaint alleged causes of action for false arrest, false imprisonment, unlawful search and seizure, assault, battery, and emotional distress. United moved for summary judgment claiming Ms. Rubin's state tort law causes of action were...