Shinault v. American Airlines, Inc.

• Decision Date: 25 July 1991
• Docket Number: No. 90-1495,90-1495
• Citation: 936 F.2d 796
• Parties: Walt SHINAULT, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC., Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Page 796

936 F.2d 796

60 USLW 2109

Walt SHINAULT, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC., Defendant-Appellee.

No. 90-1495.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

July 25, 1991.

Jeffrey P. Hubbard, Wells, Moore, Simmons, Stubblefield & Neeld, Jackson, Miss., for plaintiff-appellant.

Daniel F. Goldstein, Andrew D. Freeman, Brown, Goldstein & Levy, Baltimore, Md., for amicus curiae National Federation of the Blind.

Timothy Cook, National Disability Action Center, Douglas L. Parker, Institute for Public Representation, Washington, D.C., for amicus curiae Paralyzed Veterans of America, et al.

David A. Barfield, S. Craig Panter, Kirkland, Barfield & Panter, Jackson, Miss., for defendant-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.

Before CLARK, Chief Judge, WILLIAMS, and DAVIS, Circuit Judges.

W. EUGENE DAVIS, Circuit Judge:

Walt Shinault appeals the district court's decision granting summary judgment and rejecting his claim under the Air Carrier Access Act. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

I.

Shinault is a thirty-year-old quadriplegic from Jackson, Mississippi. As the 1989 National Easter Seals Adult Representative, Shinault traveled frequently to promote disability awareness and to raise money for Easter Seals. On February 15, 1989, Shinault traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with President Bush. Shinault flew from Jackson to Washington, D.C. with Jeff Covington. After meeting with President Bush, Shinault and Covington were scheduled to return to Jackson on American Airlines (American). Their itinerary was as follows:

Flight 605 Departure Washington, D.C. 1:08 p.m.

Arrival Nashville, TN 2:00 p.m.

Flight 1019 Departure Nashville, TN 2:42 p.m.

Arrival Jackson, MS 3:52 p.m.

Due to mechanical problems, Flight 605 did not depart from Washington, D.C. until 1:40 p.m., and bad weather caused even more delays. As a result, Flight 605 arrived in Nashville at 2:45 p.m., 45 minutes behind schedule and three minutes after Shinault's connecting flight to Jackson originally had been scheduled to depart. That connecting flight, however, was also delayed by bad weather. A flight attendant told Shinault that he would make his connecting flight and that other passengers on Flight 605 had to make the same connection. Shinault was particularly anxious to make the connection because he had scheduled a press conference at the Jackson Airport.

When Flight 605 arrived in Nashville, Shinault asked permission to deplane immediately. A flight attendant told Shinault that other passengers had to deplane first. All passengers transferring to Flight 1019, except Shinault, were allowed to leave the plane first. The remaining passengers followed. After all other passengers had deplaned, an American special services agent brought a gurney onto the plane and transferred Shinault from his seat to the gurney. The agent wheeled Shinault off the plane to a manual wheelchair. Shinault asked that he be allowed to remain on the gurney until he reached his connecting flight. He was informed that his request was against American's policy. Shinault was transferred to the wheelchair and taken to the departing gate for Flight 1019.

American gate agent Anita Appleton was working the jetbridge for Flight 1019. Before closing the door to Flight 1019 for the first time, Appleton boarded some late passengers. She then closed the door and pulled the jetbridge away from the airplane. The zoner called Appleton and told her that she had more passengers to board. Because it was nearing departure time, she had to contact the planner to get authority to extend the jetbridge back to the aircraft. After she boarded the additional passengers, Appleton again pulled back the jetbridge. Shortly before departure, a member of the ground crew approached Appleton with paperwork for the captain of Flight 1019. The paperwork involved Shinault's wheelchair. Appleton again obtained permission to extend the jetbridge, and after delivering the paperwork, she closed the door and pulled back the jetbridge.

Shinault testified in his deposition that he and Covington arrived at the gate at 2:50 p.m. Covington asked American Airlines agent Ken Barry if he and Shinault could board Flight 1019. Barry told them that they had arrived too late and had missed their flight. The plane was still at the gate, the door from the concourse to the jetbridge was open, and the light inside the jetbridge was on. Covington pointed out to Barry that the plane was still on the tarmac. Barry started typing on the computer. Shortly thereafter, Appleton emerged from the jetbridge, turned out the light inside the jetbridge, and closed the door. Barry asked Appleton if Flight 1019 had left already. Shinault testified in his deposition that Appleton said no, but Covington testified in his deposition that Appleton told Barry that she had just closed the door. Barry and Appleton walked down the jetbridge. When Barry returned, he told Shinault and Covington that he was sorry they missed their connection and that he would determine when the next flight to Jackson was available. No one boarded Flight 1019 after the time Shinault and Covington arrived at the gate. According to American's records, Flight 1019 pulled away from the gate at 3:00.

Realizing that he had to wait for the next flight to Jackson, Shinault asked for his wheelchair, but the chair had already been placed in the baggage compartment of Flight 1019. Shinault chose not to take the next flight to Jackson because it had a connecting flight in Dallas. Shinault waited for five hours in the lowback manual wheelchair before catching the next direct flight to Jackson. The manual wheelchair had neither seat belts nor other restraining devices, and Shinault feared that he would lose his balance and fall out of the wheelchair. Shinault also feared that the manual wheelchair would cause pressure sores. Finally, Shinault had delayed performing his bowel program, and he feared that the delay would induce dysreflexia or a stroke or that he would have a sudden bowel movement. None of Shinault's fears were realized.

After complaining to American's executive office without results, Shinault sued American under the Air Carrier Access Act of 1986 (ACAA), 49 U.S.C.App. Sec. 1374(c), alleging that American discriminated against him by refusing to let him board Flight 1019 because he was handicapped. Shinault sought injunctive relief, compensatory damages, emotional distress damages, and punitive damages. The district court granted American's motion for summary judgment on the following grounds: (1) the ACAA does not allow for recovery of emotional distress damages; (2) the ACAA is a remedial statute and does not allow for recovery of punitive damages; and (3) the district court cannot issue injunctive relief because under the doctrine of primary jurisdiction, the Secretary of Transportation is charged with enforcing the ACAA. 738 F.Supp. 193. The district court did not address explicitly Shinault's claim for compensatory damages. Shinault appeals.

II.

We review the grant of a summary judgment motion de novo, using the same criteria used by the district court in the first instance. EEOC v. J.M. Huber Corp., 927 F.2d 1322, 1325 (5th Cir.1991). We review the evidence and all reasonable inferences to be drawn from the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Id. at 1325-26. If no genuine issue as to any material fact exist and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, the district court will grant summary judgment. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c).

III.

Under the ACAA, "No air carrier may discriminate against any otherwise qualified handicapped individual, by reason of such handicap, in the provision of air transportation." 49 U.S.C.App. Sec. 1374(c)(1). The ACAA does not provide for a private cause of action. We may imply private remedies, however, after considering the following four factors: (1) whether the plaintiff is one of the class of persons whom the statute was intended to benefit; (2) whether the legislature intended to create a private remedy; (3) whether a private remedy is consistent with the underlying statutory scheme; and (4) whether the contemplated remedy traditionally has been relegated to state law. Cort v. Ash, 422 U.S. 66, 78, 95 S.Ct. 2080, 2087-88, 45 L.Ed.2d 26 (1975). No one disputes that Shinault is an "otherwise qualified handicapped individual" under the statute. The legislative history of the ACAA indicates that Congress intended to provide a private cause of action under the ACAA and that cause of action would be consistent with the statutory scheme. See Tallarico v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 881 F.2d 566, 569-70 (8th Cir.1989). Private remedies for discrimination by airlines have traditionally emanated from federal legislation. See Sec. 404(b) of the Federal Aviation Act of 1958, 49 U.S.C. Sec. 1374(b), repealed by Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, 49 U.S.C.App. Sec. 1551(a)(2)(B). We conclude, therefore, that a private cause of action exists under the ACAA.

IV.

American argues that Shinault presented no evidence from which a reasonable juror could conclude that Shinault had been the victim of discrimination. The district court did not decide whether Shinault created a genuine issue of material fact on this point, but American proposes the absence of any evidence of discrimination as an alternative ground for affirming the summary judgment. Meza v. General Battery Corp., 908 F.2d 1262, 1274 (5th Cir.1990); Guidry v. Broussard, 897 F.2d 181, 182 n. 1 (5th Cir.1990) (per curiam). To survive a motion for summary judgment on the liability issue, Shinault "must make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of" discrimination. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

In his complaint, Shinault alleged that American intentionally discriminated against him by...