Once again, shame rains down on trial lawyers because some overly-sensitive litigator can’t understand the word “NO”. According to the AP report:
Attorney Richard Roth says not only did he and his family arrive in Buenos Aires, Argentina, almost three days late, he had to spend unplanned thousands of dollars on food, hotels and transportation, and buy tickets for another airline.
And because Delta misplaced his luggage, Roth’s lawsuit says, he had to buy new clothes for himself and family members after arriving in Buenos Aires.
Though he was promised Delta would bring his luggage, Roth says he had to drive to the airport in Buenos Aires to look for and retrieve his bags himself.
So here’s another he-man trial lawyer who thinks he can muscle the airlines with a lawsuit just because he had the patience of a gnat. His bags were misplace. Like it never happened to anyone else.
But what really pushed his buttons was that some gatekeeper, responsible for hundred of other people, wouldn’t bend over backwards at his command.
In Atlanta, say court papers filed Friday in Manhattan’s state Supreme Court, a gate agent refused to let Roth and his family onto the jet for the connecting flight, although the plane was sitting at the gate with the door open.
Roth says his cousin, already on the plane, told him by cellphone there were several empty seats. When Roth asked the agent to speak to the pilot, he replied, “The pilot is not in charge here. I am. All the pilot does is fly the plane.”
How dare anyone defy the litigator. Don’t they know how important he is? Don’t they realize they should cower when he speaks? If he says he wants to speak to the pilot, then the gate agent ought to jump. Instead, just a little sass brought a lawsuit down on Delta’s head. And what’s a little sass worth these days?
Roth said Tuesday he wants $21,000 for out-of-pocket expenses and another $275,000 in compensatory damages for emotional distress. He said he also wants punitive damages that would be at least three times the compensatory amount.
Kinda makes you want to take vacations for a living, doesn’t it? Just to see how much you can milk out of an airline on the shoulders of all the other passengers who just want to fly without all the drama.
Of course, if a guy like Richard Roth didn’t step up to the plate to do something about the fact that the airline left him high and dry in Atlanta on December 20, in the midst of his family’s trip to Argentina to celebrate his mother’s 80th birthday, telling him he was screwed and they couldn’t get him down there until January 8th, even though he had return tickets on December 28, next time it could be you.
So to all you lawyer-haters out there, who do you think is going to do the heavy lifting to keep the airlines honest, so you don’t end up getting screwed like Richard Roth? That could never happen to you, right?
Update: It appears that my effort at sarcasm has left some wondering whether I am castigating Ross. While I would have thought the final two paragraphs would clear it up, let me eliminate any confusion. The airline industry has long viewed itself as having no responsibility to fulfill its agreements to consumers, and has been one of the worst, most callous abusers of its custmers in America. I applaud Richard Roth for taking action against Delta and think Delta’s conduct is horrendous and fully deserving of punitive damages. Not just because of what it did to Roth and his family. My use of sarcasm in this post was to note how often people deride trial lawyers for taking actions that protect the rest of us.
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I don’t think this is about him being an attorney. It is about how Delta treats it’s customers, before, during and after a bad flight.
I had similar experience on a flight to Europe in March. Delta made mistakes and I was left at JFK even though I had a seat on a flight. I was put in a hotel overnight and flown to Gatwick the following day. The Gatwick flight got diverted to Brussels and I was then put on a flight to Rome with a connection to Nice. Again due to airline errors I and two other Delta passengers were left at the gate. When we called Delta they told me I was “on my own”. I took a train to my final destination at my expense. I arrived 3 days late and $1000+ poorer.
On my return to the US I contacted Delta “Customer Care” and was told “no refund” on the un-flown ticket (although a refund is required by law) no reimbursement on my expenses. After many calls I got Delta to re-pay for the train ticket but I am still waiting for the refund.
Delta failed to provide the service I paid for.
Delta failed to re-book me as per their policy (on web-site)
Delta lied to me when requesting refund.
Delta acted like a big evil company.
Delta still owes me money.
Delta deserved to get sued.
Richard Roth made reserverations through Delta to fly to Argentina. Becuase of Delta’s incompetance he and his family arrived late in Atlanta to make their connecting flight on Delta. Because the connecting flight was also late leaving they could have made the flight which was still at the gate but the agent at the gate refused to let the family board.
What possible reason could that agent have for doing that? He intentionally cause the family to miss their flight. It would have taken him no extra effort to do this. But you are blaming Richard Roth simply because he is an attorney.
What would you have done under these circumstances Mrs SHG? Would you have waited in the Atlanta Airport for two weeks to get your flight to Argentina? Would you have flown back to New York and thrown away all the time and effort you put into planning an 80th birthday present for your mother?
Delta screwed him and his family over but in your mind it’s ok because he’s a lawyer.
I haven’t flown in years, so I’m not sure what exactly happened here, but it sounds like the airline screwed up his trip. If an airline’s failure to provide the service I paid them for cost me this much trouble, I’d probably call a lawyer or two, just to see what recourse I have.
My guess is that I’d have almost none beyond a ticket refund. I’m pretty sure the airlines have near-bulletproof liability disclaimers.
Also, I’m mostly convinced that our craptastic airline service is a response to market demands. People may hate being jerked around by airlines, but they’d also hate paying airlines enough money to provide better service.
Do you think you might have missed a bit of sarcasm?
What incredibly bad judgment by Delta. That sass should cost the agent his job and Delta substantial damages.
I empathise entirely with Mr Roth. Seven months on-and distress levels hardly diminished-I have had a not too disimilar ‘experience’ with SouthWest ‘airlines’.
Since 2000, this Irish -Americanophile-Since 2000-before the then Mayor of New York-urged people to cross the Atlantic-I have visited your shores and with friendly assistance by Senators and Congressmen and women, I have been cleared for the White House(this November 2008)-the Capitol-the Senate Old and new(last year)-and without assistance but with my own good conduct and ID–I have been to the Pentagon on more than one occasion-the Supreme Court-and the Libray of Congress.
I have been to Edwards AFB; Nellis AFB;-and Ames research facility-in previous years.
More relevantly,—I have passed through many civil aiports in the US –
yet it is only when I arrived at Southwest’s security at MCO-that civility, decency, and plain INTELLIGENCE -vanishes. Hello Calvin-of southwest
more later-
I have already shared my comments on Facebook which I thought would be repeated here. Suffice to say, Delta learned nothing from the bad experience(s)because history repeated itself in August 2011, causing me and my family undue hardship in getting to my wife’s memorial..and no promised reply to my request for fare refund. I hope Mr. Roth (and others) had better luck.
Contary to popular belief, not all comments shared on facebook appear here. I know, but that’s just the way it is.