Category: Mask Lawsuits

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.

A 4-year-old Florida boy who suffers from Autism Spectrum Disorder and has been restricted from flying during the COVID-19 pandemic because he medically can’t wear a face mask filed suit Friday in Boston, Massachusetts, demanding $400,000 in damages from American Airlines and Southwest Airlines. Michael Seklecki Jr. and his dad, Michael Sr., are also asking a federal judge to vacate the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention’s Federal Transportation Mask Mandate, which marks its first anniversary Feb. 1.

Michael Sr. and Michael Jr. of Sanford, Florida, have been denied medical exemptions by the two airlines. They have also have been banned by Frontier Airlines and harassed by Spirit Airlines because Michael Jr. can’t wear a mask. Delta Air Lines is the only carrier that has accommodated Michael Jr.’s disability with a mask waiver, but it refuses to give Michael Sr. an exception. Delta, Frontier, and Spirit are not named in the lawsuit due to settlement talks outside of court regarding the Sekleckis’ discrimination complaints, but Michael Sr. said they might be added to the case later.

A Kentucky man who must fly to California and back for work every 12 days filed suit today against the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention to block the agency’s Federal Transportation Mask Mandate, which has been in effect for nearly a year. The lawsuit also demands nearly $2.2 million in damages from American Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines, and United Airlines for refusing his medical exemption on numerous flights as part of a conspiracy to interfere with the civil rights of the disabled.

Michael Faris, 35, of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, medically can’t tolerate wearing a face mask. Faris fainted July 20, 2021, while forced to obstruct his breathing on an American flight from Louisville to Dallas and again Oct. 21, 2021, while in the jetway attempting to board a United flight from Ontario, California, to Denver. United refused to allow him on board. Faris rebooked with American, who then banned him from the airline for requesting a mask exemption at the check-in counter. JetBlue and Southwest also banned Faris when he applied for mask exemptions, canceling his tickets without his consent.

This case is believed to be the first in the nation to challenge CDC’s mask mandate and airlines’ discriminatory policies regarding face coverings in the same lawsuit.

The U.S. Supreme Court is considering at its conference today a 4-year-old Florida boy’s emergency application to stay the Transportation Security Administration’s ability to enforce the Federal Transportation Mask Mandate, which is in effect until at least March 18.

The application from Michael Seklecki Jr. (listed as M.S. in legal papers) of Sanford, Florida, who suffers from Autism Spectrum Disorder and can’t medically wear a face covering, is on the justice’s conference agenda today, one day after the Supreme Court halted the Occupational Safety & Health Administration’s vaccine or mask/test mandate for all companies employing at least 100 workers. Joining the request are his father, Michael Sr., and Lucas Wall of Washington, D.C., who also medically can’t wear masks.

A 4-year-old Florida boy who suffers from Autism Spectrum Disorder and can’t medically wear a face covering is asking U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch to block the Transportation Security Administration’s ability to enforce the Federal Transportation Mask Mandate, which is in effect until at least March 18.

In an emergency application resubmitted Dec. 21 and placed back on the docket today, Michael Seklecki Jr. of Sanford, Florida, his father Michael Sr., and Lucas Wall of Washington, D.C., request Gorsuch stays enforcement of the mandate pending final disposition of their petition for review in the U.S. Court of Appeals.

A federal judge refused Saturday requests by the Orlando airport and transit authorities to dismiss a lawsuit challenging their enforcement of mask mandates as violations of Florida law and the state constitution.

The Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, which operates Orlando International Airport, and the Central Florida Transportation Authority, which runs the region’s LYNX bus system, had asked U.S. District Judge Paul Byron to dismiss plaintiff Lucas Wall’s claims that the state agencies are requiring passengers to cover their faces in direct defiance of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ May 3 executive order prohibiting any governmental entity from mandating face masks and a June 11 Florida Court of Appeal decision finding public mask mandates are in violation of the Florida Constitution’s privacy clause.

Byron denied GOAA and LYNX’s motions to dismiss in a decision issued Saturday in a case involving not just the two state agencies’ face-covering dictates but also the Federal Transportation Mask Mandate and International Traveler Testing Requirement.