An airport terminal is not subject to the accommodation requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday.
But that is not the end of the story. The circuit reinstated California state law tort claims by Michelle Gilstrap, who suffers from osteoarthritis and needs wheelchair assistance moving through airports.
The court held the Air Carrier Access Act does not pre-empt state law personal injury remedies stemming from airline mistreatment of passengers with disabilities who ask for assistance.
Gilstrap sued United Airlines after two flights, in 2008 and 2009, between Los Angeles and Calgary, Canada, and again from Burbank to Madison, Wisconsin, saying United failed repeatedly to provide wheelchair help.
She walked during the 2008 trip and had to be treated with an epidural injection due to pain, according to the court.
Judge Marsha Berson wrote that Title III of the ADA does not apply to airport terminals because it only applies to “places of public accommodation” and expressly excludes airport terminals.
The circuit has never ruled on whether the federal regulations to enforce access and treatment of disabled passengers under the ACAA provides a private right of action, although three other circuits have suggested the ACAA does not provide a private right to sue for violations.
“We need not, and do not, reach that question in this opinion, because Gilstrap does not allege a cause of action under the ACAA,” Berzon wrote.
State law damage actions may survive even if state standards are displaced by federal law, she said.
So, in the end, Berson says the ACAA and its regulations preempt state standards of care for the circumstances under which airlines must provide assistance to disabled passengers in the airport. But the ACAA does not preempt state remedies that may be available when a airlines violate those standards. Got that?
She also said the federal ACAA does not preempt personal-injury claims arising from how airline agents interact with disabled passengers.
Case: Gilstrap v. United Air Lines, No. 11-55271
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