Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 23, 1994 TAG: 9402230049
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The justices, acting without comment in a Montana case Tuesday, let stand a ruling that said such lawsuits are not precluded by federal regulation of the airline industry.
Tuesday's action, not a decision, set no legal precedent. But its effect, for now, is to give inconvenienced air travelers their day in court.
Returning from a four-week recess, the high court acted in hundreds of cases.
In other matters, the court:
Set the stage for a big-stakes ruling by agreeing to clarify in a Georgia case a state's duty to refund income taxes later ruled unconstitutional.
Agreed to decide in an Ohio case whether government may bar the distribution of campaign literature that doesn't carry a sponsor's name and address.
Turned down two appeals aimed at giving some Vietnam veterans and their families a new chance to sue chemical makers over exposure to the toxic herbicide Agent Orange.
At issue in the airline case was whether federal regulation pre-empts an airlines from being held liable under state law.
William D. West of Helena, Mont., sued Northwest Airlines after being bumped from an Oct. 7, 1986, flight from Great Falls to the nation's capital.
West sued and sought $10,000 in compensatory damages and $50,000 in punitive damages.
After Northwest had the case transferred to a federal court, a trial judge dismissed the lawsuit.
But the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated part of West's lawsuit, ruling that he could sue for compensatory - but not punitive - damages.
Both West and Northwest appealed, and in June 1992 the Supreme Court told the appeals court to restudy the case.
After restudying West's case, the 9th Circuit voted again to allow lawsuits by bumped ticket holders but again ruled that punitive damages cannot be awarded.
by CNB