Month: February 2022

American Airlines today refused to board a 4-year-old autistic boy despite his obtaining a mask-exemption letter from the carrier at the instruction of a federal judge. The family is currently stranded at Miami International Airport trying to find another way to get to Boston for the boy’s 11 a.m. medical appointment tomorrow at Massachusetts General Hospital.

A federal judge Feb. 16 directed American Airlines and Southwest Airlines to issue Michael Seklecki Jr. of Sanford, Florida, who suffers from Autism Spectrum Disorder, a letter exempting him from having to a wear a mask while traveling for the next 30 days until more in-depth court proceedings can be held. American and Southwest complied, but American included an unlawful provision that Michael Jr. has to submit a PCR or antigen COVID-19 test at check in.

The Health Freedom Defense Fund and two women who live in the Tampa Bay area moved for summary judgment Thursday to vacate the Federal Transportation Mask Mandate ordered by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, advancing the case into final proceedings after a legal battle that began in July.

The motion, filed in federal court in Tampa, came one day after a Washington, D.C., man who’s been stranded in Florida for more than eight months because he medically can’t wear a mask filed for summary judgment asking a U.S. district judge in Orlando to strike down the FTMM. And it came the day after Texas became the first state to sue the federal government to halt the mask requirement.

Two sheriff’s deputies threatened to arrest a Louisville woman today when she attempted to enter the Oldham County Courthouse without a mask on to attend a hearing in a case that began in September 2020 when a shooting range had her charged with trespassing for asserting her right to a disability exemption from its mask policy.

Shannon Greer went into the courthouse lobby with her husband, Eric, for her 2 p.m. hearing before Judge Brittney McKenna on her motion to dismiss the three charges against her stemming from the Sept. 12, 2020, incident at Openrange Gun Range in Crestwood. A video Greer posted to YouTube shows Eric entering first and placing a mask on. Shannon then enters the building and its immediately told by an Oldham County sheriff’s deputy “You have to put a mask on mam.”

A federal judge today instructed American Airlines and Southwest Airlines to issue a 4-year-old Florida boy who suffers from Autism Spectrum Disorder a letter by 5 p.m. today exempting him from having to a wear a mask while traveling for the next 30 days until more in-depth court proceedings can be held. It’s the largest victory so far for a coalition of disabled Americans who have been battling the airlines in courts for more than eight months regarding their illegal mask policies.

U.S. District Judge Patti Saris scheduled an emergency hearing for this morning after the two carriers and the government refused to grant a mask exemption to Michael Seklecki Jr. of Sanford, Florida, who must travel to Boston regularly for specialized medical care at Boston Children’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. During the brief proceeding today, she directed Roy Goldberg, counsel for American and Southwest, to issue Seklecki’s father, Michael Sr., a mask-exemption letter valid for 30 days on both airlines.

A federal judge today ordered American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention to appear at an emergency hearing at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday after the two carriers and the government refused to grant a mask exemption to a 4-year-old Florida boy who suffers from Autism Spectrum Disorder and must fly Feb. 22 to Boston for important specialized medical treatment.

U.S. District Judge Patti Saris held an initial hearing Feb. 11 regarding the lawsuit filed by Michael Seklecki Sr. on behalf of himself and his son, Michael Jr., demanding they both be granted mask exemptions and that CDC’s Federal Transportation Mask Mandate be struck down as illegal and unconstitutional. Saris ordered lawyers for American and Southwest to resolve Michael Jr.’s exemption outside of court and report back by today. However, the two airlines still refuse to approve the boy’s medical waiver.

A frequent flyer suing the federal government and seven airlines attacking the legality of the Federal Transportation Mask Mandate and the carriers’ unlawful mask discrimination asked the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida today to terminate its requirement that anyone entering a courthouse cover their face.

Plaintiff Lucas Wall, 45, of Washington, D.C., has been stranded in Florida since he was denied the ability to board a flight June 2, 2021, because of the FTMM and airlines’ discrimination against Americans who medically can’t tolerate having their breathing obstructed. He first filed a lawsuit against the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention seeking to vacate the FTMM, then later in June 2021 brought a second case against Southwest, Alaska, Allegiant, Delta, Frontier, JetBlue, and Spirit for refusing to grant medical exemptions to the disabled. In the second suit, Wall is part of a group of 12 disabled flyers pursuing a class action against the seven airlines for unlawfully discriminating against those with disabling medical conditions.