A Washington, DC resident has filed suit against seven airlines and required an emergency restraining order to let him travel without a mask. He says he has a disability. But at least one airline contends he has no legitimate reason not to wear a mask.
Frequent Flyer Mask Lawsuit: Man Sues Seven Airlines, Claiming He Is Trapped
Lucas Wall currently lives with his mother in a retirement community in Florida. He wants to escape the Florida heat but says he cannot due to the federal mask mandate, which requires masks at airports and on airplanes.
He recently tried to board a Southwest Airlines flight in Orlando without a mask, but did not even make it through the security checkpoint: both the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Southwest insisted he wear a mask in order to proceed. Wall had submitted paperwork outlining his purported disability in advance, but it was not approved according to his lawsuit. He posted the following video to his YouTube account:
His lawsuit covers the following seven airlines, claiming they would refuse to let him fly without a mask despite documented medical evidence showing he could not wear one:
- Alaska
- Allegiant
- Delta
- Frontier
- JetBlue
- Southwest
- Spirit
He told Business Insider:
“I take medication for that, but I’m still prone to panic attacks. One of the triggers is any time my breathing is obstructed – that brings a feeling of claustrophobia and a complete sense of unease.”
JetBlue filed a motion in opposition to the lawsuit, calling it “entirely without merit” and noting that a court does not have jurisdiction; instead, it is the Department of Transportation which can investigate and enforce ACAA regulations.
This Isn’t His First Lawsuit…
Last week, a Florida judge dismissed his request for a restraining order in a lawsuit against President Joe Biden, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, TSA, and the Department of Homeland Security arising from the same incident on Southwest Airlines.
In that lawsuit, he claimed the mandate should not apply because he was flying entirely within Florida (Orlando to Fort Lauderdale) and Florida does not have a mask mandate.
You can read that complaint here.
My Thoughts
I have a few thoughts on this lawsuit. First, the federal government has allowed a broad exemption for passengers with disabilities as part of the federal mask mandate. If Wall has a bonafide disability, airlines are required to let him fly without a mask.
Second, it appears he is suing six airlines he never actually attempted to fly without a mask. If you read his complaint, he outlines the Southwest Airlines incident, but does not detail attempting to fly other airlines using his documented medical exemption and then being denied.
Third, his “urgency” argument is total bunk because if he really had to escape the Florida heat he could drive a car or attempt to fly another airline. Furthermore, I’m not sure how flying from Fort Lauderdale to Orlando was an attempt to escape the heat…
Wall claims to be a frequent flyer who has flown more than 1.5 million miles and traveled to 134 countries. But the subtext around this lawsuit is that he simply is an anti-masker.
CONCLUSION
Seven airlines are being sued for “mask discrimination” when it appears that six were not even given a chance to actually deny Wall boarding. Couplet that with the jurisdictional issue and his case appears to me to have little merit.
His suit should be dismissed with costs.
When I want to “escape the heat” I turn down the A/C a couple of degrees, and get a nice cold drink.
“ Lucas Wall currently lives with his mother in a retirement community in Florida.” tells me everything I need to know
Conveniently “forgets” to bring supporting medical documentation. Good luck with that lawsuit, Lucas.
I know. What an idiot…that is my only thought after watching the video in full.
I’m pretty sure Lucas is a regular here at LALF.
He only reads on Sundays.
I think all of the people he spoke with were incredibly patient and tolerant of someone who really does seem to be just challenging the system and seeking attention – and some free cash!
Better be careful of what I say or he might try to sue me too!
Agreed.
Bob, while I do not currently reside in FL, my bar dues are still up to date. However, I think we’d both be better off if this idiot sues you if I just call one of my old colleagues at Holland & Knight to get you pro bono 1A representation. The FL SLAPP law is not the best but you’d definitely get a judgment for lawyer fees. However, I think a guy who lives with his mother in a retirement village probably won’t ever have the money to satisfy the judgment.
THIS. Shout out to TSA. All exhibited calm, controlled professionalism. Impressive.
Easy way for ALL of the airlines to fix this – ban him from their airline.
Amen.
Exactly.
Maybe it’s time for him to move out of mom’s basement and spread his wings.
Why doesn’t he get the vaccine especially with the Delta variant going around? Or he can’t because of his poor immune system? Guess he has to drive his car as trains and long-distance buses are controlled by TSA also.
Watch the video. First few minutes Lucas prominently displays vaccine card (if it’s legit).
This guy is an idiot. Trying to high five another non-masked person calling each other the “no mask mafia” shows he is less concerned with his medical condition (that he supposedly has) while he is trying to game the system because he doesn’t want to wear a mask. This person has a long history of going after airlines and hotels online for his own personal gain. Please do the world a favor, just stay home with your mom and don’t leave your house.
I’m sure someone will eventually be denied accomodation with a valid condition, but this doesnt seem to be the best test case..
So this guy may be an idiot, but where is the science behind the FAA mask mandate? You can remove the mask while you eat on a plane, but at no other time. COVID can’t spread while you eat? Fully vaccinated people can go mask free almost everywhere but on public transportation. Does that make sense? Airplanes have fantastic air filtration systems. They are likely the safest places to be mask free. What percentage of COVID positive transmission can be traced to air travel? My guess is that it is miniscule. The FAA will likely lift the mask mandate later this year. In the meantime, you are no more likely to get COVID in an airport than in your favorite mask-free restaurant.
The FAA mask mandate is in place to assuage the fears of COVID-timid would-be fliers. It has no basis in science. Since it would be too difficult to verify the vaccination status of every passenger, the authorities probably decided that it is simplest just to make everyone wear a mask. Government must be seen to be doing SOMETHING about anything that worries the citizenry, even if it is actually harmful (see New Deal, Great Society). Saint Fauci has no problems with telling “noble lies” in attempting to achieve his goals (not that this policy falls under his purview).
Hey Cargo Cult…New Deal and Great Society harmful?
False equivalency.
So I guess you’ll be opting out of Social Security and Medicare once the time comes?
Wonder how your type would’ve faired during the Great Depression/ WW 2 –times of real sacrifice.
It’s just a mask.
Is it possible to opt out of paying into social security?
Go easy on him – he’s an anti-vaxxer so he is clearly a few sandwiches short of a picnic, if you know what I mean
False equivalency? My position is that government does great harm with its grandiose projects. Are you one of those sadly mistaken in the belief that FDR saved America from the Great Depression with the New Deal or that LBJ actually helped black and poor folx with the Great Society? Utopian socialists think that price controls will prevent rapacious capitalists from preying on the poor citizenry. That worked out great in every communist/socialist country that ever existed, from the USSR to Venezuela. How are black folx doing after the Great Society destroyed black families and burgeoning black middle class communities? Do you really think the government is going to make your life better? Maybe you think it was the CCP that lifted hundreds of millions of Chinese folx out of poverty and not the people themselves with the state getting out of the way. As the kids like to say today, read some books. Educate yourself.
https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/blog/the-new-deal-made-americas-racial-inequality-worse-we-cant-make-the-same-mistake-with-covid-19-economic-crisis/
https://www.heritage.org/budget-and-spending/commentary/get-over-it-new-deal-didnt-do-the-job
https://www.ocregister.com/2019/08/12/a-green-new-deal-would-fail-just-like-the-original-new-deal/
https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/business/23view.html
http://minneapolisfed.org/research/qr/qr2311.pdf
https://www.manhattan-institute.org/the-forgotten-failures-of-the-great-society
https://reason.com/2020/03/15/the-not-so-great-society-2/
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/12/29/14112084/war-on-poverty-brooklyn-great-society
https://www.americanexperiment.org/why-the-great-society-wasnt/
Oh, and do you actually think Social Security and Medicare, which are driving the federal government to insolvency, are better than what the private sector could have achieved with the same amount of capital? Do you realize that the distortion of tying health insurance to your job is a legacy of New Deal price controls?
Someone should ask the gent to watch The Weather Channel: its hot, sticky and overcast in DC, so he’s not escaping the heat by leaving Florida. What utter nonsense this is and a huge waste of the court’s and TSA’s time. With luck, the airlines will countersue for filing a frivolous suit and malicious use of process.
This guy is a true anti-masker and is being supported by the anti-mask groups. Don’t like the rule, stay home. There are very few legitimate disabilities where people can’t wear a mask. Most of them would be wearing an oxygen mask instead.
with the camera running before he even got to the TSA, he was just there to cause trouble. He is being supported by the abt-maskers!
Mr. Wall is a travel journalist. He travels for a living. He travels for a living!
He has anxiety. Which many people suffer from. It is considered a disability.
NOT one USA airline is allowing exemptions for disabilities. NOBODY can fly without a mask. Crew are even being directed to enforce the mask for children under two.
Dont tell me Im wrong. I have my Flight Attendant manual and FAA memos.
It is an illegal mandate in the first place. Stop promoting an oppressive compliance ritual.
Your conclusion paragraph is just absurd assumptions.
He’s not a travel journalist, he’s a deluded partisan hack who fails to grasp law and has proceeded to make a fool out of himself with a pair of meritless lawsuits. Crew are not being directed to enforce masks for children under two and there are exemptions for disabilities.
Grab a Lyft?
If he really wanted or needed to fly to Germany, and has to leave on the 17th of July, he can always, ALWAYS grab the nearest , and up up and away you go.
Personally I’m glad he’s doing it. Only this man and his physician can determine whether or not he is able to wear a mask, not a representative of the airline. There is no science behind the mask unless of course you’re wearing what the staff wears in the hospital when treating a patient with covid. A mask, a shield, gloves and covered from head to toe. Do you seriously believe a mask from the dollar store, a homemade mask a bandanna and even the N95 alone actually works? Give me a break. By the way, I had Covid-19 was hospitalized for 6 days. Hydroxychloroquine works and it did all along there was never a need for masks in the first place.
It doesn’t matter if there is no science behind the masks – airlines are required to tell passengers to wear masks in order to fly…or pink pants…or yellow underwear. Doesn’t make it right, but you agree to abide by such polices by voluntarily purchasing tickets…