Scanlan v. Am. Airlines Grp. Inc.

Scanlan v. Am. Airlines Grp. Inc.

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

Bartle, J.

April 6, 2022

Plaintiff James P. Scanlan, a commercial airline pilot and a retired Major General in the United States Air Force Reserve, brought a class action against defendants American Airlines Group, Inc. ("AAG") and American Airlines, Inc. ("American") pursuant [*2]  to the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act ("USERRA"), 38 U.S.C. §§ 4301 et seq., and for breach of contract. Carla Riner, a commercial airline pilot and a Brigadier General in the Delaware Air National Guard, later joined Scanlan as a class representative. Plaintiffs assert that they and the class of American pilots they represent have not received the compensation or benefits due to them under the statute and by contract and thus seek declaratory, injunctive, and monetary relief.

On October 8, 2021, this court granted class certification pursuant to Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. This court found that a class of current and former American pilots met the requirements for certification under Rule 23(a) and (b)(2), and granted certification for three subclasses, one for each count of the second amended complaint.

Before the court is the motion of defendants to alter or amend the class definition to exclude from the certified class those pilots who have retired from the military or American.

As more fully explained in the court's October 8, 2021 memorandum granting class certification, this case arises from the fact that American, AAG's wholly owned subsidiary, does not compensate its pilots for leave taken to fulfill their military commitments no matter how long or short that leave is. American does, [*3]  however, pay employees who take leave for jury duty or bereavement. Those employees who take leave for jury duty either receive their full regular pay or the difference between their regular compensation and their pay as jurors. The collective bargaining agreement ("CBA") between American and the Allied Pilots Association is silent as to bereavement leave, but American's policy is to provide up to three days of paid bereavement leave in the event of a death of an immediate family member.

Meanwhile, American's parent company, AAG, adopted and implemented the American Airlines Group, Inc. Global Profit Sharing Plan ("the Plan") effective January 1, 2016 to share a portion of its profits with employees of American and AAG's other subsidiary airlines who are participants in the Plan. AAG calculates each participant's individual award by dividing five percent of AAG's pre-tax earnings by the aggregate amount of all participants' earnings and multiplying this resulting value by an individual participant's "eligible earnings." Earnings from paid leave are credited to the Plan participants for purposes of this allocation.

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