S. Binyomin Ginsberg contacted Northwest Airlines to complain 24 times over seven and a half months before being stripped of his Platinum Elite status with NWA. He received a letter from the airline in 2008 noting that nine of his complaints concerned delayed luggage and that Ginsberg repeatedly asked for compensation above the airline’s guidelines. The letter went on to say that they would be stripping him of his Platinum Elite status for the constant complaints. Believe it or not, the case made it up to the Supreme Court, who had this to say today courtesy of the AP:
The Supreme Court is indicating it won’t offer much help to frequent flyers who want to sue when airlines revoke their miles or their memberships. S. Binyomin Ginsberg said Northwest, since absorbed by Delta Air Lines Inc., did not act in good faith when it cut him off. The airline says the federal deregulation of the airline industry in 1978 rules out most lawsuits like the one filed by Ginsberg. Most justices signaled they think that ruling for Ginsberg could give rise to state-by-state rules that the deregulation law was intended to prevent.
From Bloomberg:
Several justices today suggested they agreed with Delta, saying Minnesota law would impose something on the airline beyond the terms of its contract. A trial judge threw out the suit before a San Francisco-based federal appeals court reinstated it. The appeals court said the purpose of the 1978 law was to unleash “the market forces of competition,” not to confer sweeping immunity from suit. The Obama administration is largely backing Atlanta-based Delta.
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10 comments
It looks like it will be VERY hard for a jurist to listen to his complaints and rule in his favor…….I wonder if he writes letters to God when the weather is bad?
How did god get into this???– why would it be hard to listen??? – BECAUSE YOU ARE A BIGOT? OR JUST A SMART ASS?
I agree with the Court. I wonder how this case made it so far in the first place; the original judge was spot-on. (Well I do know, but this is not the place to air it.)
Relax Peter. Relax.
Him being a Jew is irrelevant.
Geez, Peter, lighten up! I didn’t see anything bigoted or snotty in “Just Saying”s comment. The plaintiff is a Rabbi (indicating some sort of relationship with some God) and apparently complains about a lot of things. The comment was just an amusing play on the situation. You seem to need a hug.
I would have made the same comment if it was my Episcopal priest or a Catholic or a Methodist…….any Holy Man that complains too much about earthly matters makes me wonder if they are also complaining to God over facts of the universe………but let’s just all have a group hug so our upgrade isn’t taken away from us
If this story was published in a major newspaper, within minutes some people would be calling it as religious profiling. Regardless now that the story is out, you will likely see jewish people protesting Delta even if this Rabbi had too much time on his hands. Good for Delta.
Sometimes I think there are more crazy people out there looking for something to call profiling than actual people doing profiling. Attention seekers.
I wouldn’t be so sure about there being no religious profiling here. The Rabbi was screwed over by Northwest. He was seeking restitution for lost bags, etc. and Northwest arbitrarily cancelled his WorldPerks account. Now, why would they do that? Obvious answer was to get rid of the Rabbi. Northwest knew a civil suit would probably be decided in their favor….and that’s why they cancelled his WorldPerks acct. Now put yourself in the Rabbi’s position. The Rabbi obviously felt Northwest had a grudge against him, so he kept complaining. I don’t know what all his complaints were about…but many were about baggage. Northwest had severe baggage handling issues in MSP for years and years. MSP had high baggage theft issues. A baggage supervisor there was even murdered. Google Susan Taraskiewicz. If this was me, I would have sued Northwest for discrimination. Discrimination laws are much easier to use as a basis for a civil suit. This Rabbi was given poor legal advice, because he definitely had a case about poor service.
Well, let’s face it there was a reason NWA is no longer in the market. That same year I switched to United, and there’s been no turning back. Just wished I hadn’t spent 15 years and gotten 876,000 lifetime miles on an airline I no longer cared for.
I had to laugh when NWA the merger and said the name of the newly merged NorthWest Airlines and Delta would be called…. DELTA!
I think the title of your post is misleading since a final ruling is not due until mid-next year. In fact sounds like the justices themselves have mixed interpretations:
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304579404579236521243414940