Rowe v. United Airlines, Inc.

62 F. Supp. 3d 1225, 23 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 449, 2014 WL 3819461, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 107269
CourtDistrict Court, D. Colorado
DecidedAugust 4, 2014
DocketCivil Action No. 13-cv-00055-CMA-BNB
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 62 F. Supp. 3d 1225 (Rowe v. United Airlines, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rowe v. United Airlines, Inc., 62 F. Supp. 3d 1225, 23 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 449, 2014 WL 3819461, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 107269 (D. Colo. 2014).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

CHRISTINE M. ARGUELLO, United States District Judge

This matter comes before the Court on Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment and Memorandum in Support. (Doc. # 41.) For the following reasons, the Court grants the motion.

I. BACKGROUND1

Plaintiff began working for Defendant as a flight attendant in December 2000. In 2003, Plaintiff began suffering from migraine headaches. To treat the condition, Plaintiff lies down and sleeps the migraine [1228]*1228off, and sometimes takes prescription migraine medication, which makes her drow,sy. During a migraine Plaintiff cannot work, can walk some, has sensitive vision and hearing, and has trouble speaking logically. Her migraines are triggered by stress, anxiety, and lack of sleep.'

Plaintiff informed Defendant’s medical department that she had migraines in order to apply for leave under the Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”). Plaintiffs FMLA leave was approved in 2003 and every year from 2005 to 2010. Plaintiffs last FMLA approval provided her with FMLA leave through November 2011 and allowed for intermittent leave 1 to 4 times a month, for 1 to 3 days each.

In 2007, while employed by Defendant, Plaintiff moved' to Colorado and remains domiciled in Colorado. Following her transfer to Denver in March 2007, Plaintiff took FMLA leave 78 different times: 19 times in 2007; 23 times in 2008; 19 times in 2009; 12 times in 2010; and 5 times in 2011. While in Colorado, Mark Dodge was Plaintiffs immediate supervisor. While working out of Denver, Plaintiff received two perfect attendance commendations.

Flight attendants have the privilege of traveling for little to no cost for personal trips provided that there are seats available. To determine whether seats are available, employees can log onto Defendant’s internal flight search system to search for flight times, connections, and check flight “loads.”2 A flight attendant may place herself on the standby list for a flight at least a week in advance, although such listing does not guarantee a seat on the flight. In February 2011, a flight attendant could use “coupons” to increase boarding priority and, thus, the likelihood of getting on the flight. Flight attendants may also travel ida “jumpseats” 3 if any are available. To secure a jumpseat, a flight attendant must be at the airport at least 30 minutes before the flight departs to place her name on the list for a jumpseat. There is no mechanism to check jumpseat availability prior to' arriving at the airport. A flight attendant can also purchase discounted tickets for available seats either on United flights or on other airlines.

In October 2010, Plaintiff and her husband4 bid for, and were awarded, , time off from March 2 through March 27, 2011. Plaintiff had also scheduled time off for February 24, 25, and 26, but was scheduled to work standby reserve February 27-March 1, 2011. In January and February 2011, Plaintiff conducted the following flight searches on Defendant’s internal flight search system related to her planned time off:

• January 14: Denver to Taipei on February 22 and 23, returning March 31;
• February 22: Denver Taipei on February 23 and 24, returning April 1; and
• February 23: Denver to Taipei on February 24.

Plaintiffs husband also conducted several flight searches on Defendant’s internal flight search system:

• January 16: Denver to Taipei on February 25, 26, and 27;
[1229]*1229• February 4: Denver to Taipei on February 24, returning April 2;
• February 19: Denver to Taipei on February 23 and 24, returning April 2 and April 24;
• February 23: Denver to Taipei on February 24.

On the evening of February 23, Plaintiff received a telephone call from her parents in Taipei, Taiwan telling her that her uncle in Taipei had been taken to the hospital and was close to dying. That evening Plaintiff and her husband listed to fly to Taipei on February 24 using 6-7 coupons. Both Plaintiff and her husband were able to get on the flight. Plaintiff did not list for a flight to return from Taipei for her work assignment on February 27.

Plaintiff arrived in Taipei on February 25, at approximately 11:00 p.m. local time and proceeded to the hospital to visit her ailing uncle. Sometime after Plaintiffs arrival in Taipei, Plaintiff began to suffer from a migraine headache, which was then exacerbated by visiting her uncle in the hospital. She look her prescription medication to treat the migraine.

In order to get back for her work, assignment on February 27, Plaintiff needed to leave Taipei on February 26 on United’s 10:20 am flight. However, Plaintiff did not purchase a ticket or list for the 10:20 am flight, nor did she check the load to see if any seats were available, nor did she search Defendant’s internal flight search system for flights leaving Taipei for Denver on February 26, nor did she purchase tickets on another airline for a return trip. In addition, Plaintiff did not notify Defendants on February 26 that she would not be returning to Denver for work the following day. However, on February 26, Plaintiff did visit her uncle in the hospital.

On February 27, the day she was due to work in Denver, Plaintiff called in sick and placed, herself on FMLA leave. She remained on FMLA leave on February 28 and March 1, and then removed herself from FMLA leave on March 2 to begin her time off. Plaintiff and her husband spent the entirety of their requested time off in Taipei, Taiwan and returned to Denver on April 1.

While Plaintiff and her husband were spending their time off in Taipei, Plaintiffs immediate supervisor, Mr. Dodge checked his queue, which streams data for the flight attendants he supervises, and noticed that Plaintiff had called in sick. He pulled up her monthly schedule, which showed that her sick call immediately preceded a month-long vacation. Mr. Dodge then looked to determine whether Plaintiff had traveled anywhere around that time period, and saw that she had flown to Taipei. He felt that these circumstances warranted further investigation, so he requested Plaintiffs Weblist Log from corporate security. Plaintiffs Weblist Log showed all of the flight searches Plaintiff conducted in January and February, as listed above.

Plaintiff, as a flight attendant employed by Defendant, was subject to the terms of a Collective Bargaining Agreement (“CBA”) between Defendant and the Association of Flight Attendants union (“AFA”). Per the CBA, performance and conduct expectations for flight attendants are set forth in Defendant’s Working Together Guidelines which are available through Defendant’s internal website. The CBA also prohibits Defendant from contacting flight attendants while they are using their time off. (Doc. ## 41-4, 41-8.) Thus, it was not until Plaintiff returned to work on April 4 that Mr. Dodge called Plaintiff and asked to. meet with her on April 5 in Denver regarding her sick call and flight to Taipei.

[1230]*1230The April 5 meeting was attended by-Mr. Dodge, Maeve Moran (Defendant’s witness), Plaintiff, and AFA representative Jaret Beto, who also acted as Plaintiffs witness. At the meeting Mr.

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62 F. Supp. 3d 1225, 23 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 449, 2014 WL 3819461, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 107269, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rowe-v-united-airlines-inc-cod-2014.