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 in Boston, Massachusetts, 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.
The Sekleckis are booked to fly from Florida to New England on Feb. 22 on American and return on Feb. 23 on Southwest after Michael Jr.’s appointment at MGH. They must then fly again up to Boston on Feb. 27 because the boy has more appointments from Feb. 28 to March 2 followed by surgery on March 3 at BCH.
“I’m grateful to the judge for taking this discrimination case seriously,” Michael Sr. said. “Directing American and Southwest to issue my son a 30-day medical waiver until full briefing on my motions for preliminary injunction can be completed and a longer hearing held is a good start. The airlines should be ashamed of themselves that it took the intervention of a federal court to protect my son’s civil rights.”
Michael Sr. filed the lawsuit on Jan. 28 and moved for injunctions against the government on Feb. 3 and the two airlines on Feb. 8.
He demands $400,000 in damages from American and Southwest for unlawful discrimination and an end to the Federal Transportation Mask Mandate and airlines’ mask policies. He seeks additional compensation from all American and Southwest workers who participated in the conspiracy to deprive disabled passengers of their civil rights.
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