SOWUNMI V. AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC.
June 24, 2024
In May of 2022, a passenger on a rescheduled flight from Jamaica to Philadelphia tested positive for COVID-19 five (5) days after the flight. The passenger initiated an action against American Airlines under the Montreal Convention, seeking damages and declaratory relief related to her COVID-19 infection and the overnight delay of her flight. The airline had cancelled the original flight and rebooked the passenger for the following day. At this time, the U.S. government required all airline passengers on international flights to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test, or proof of recovery from COVID-19 in the last 90 days, in order to board a flight. The passenger cleared two tests in the days leading up to the rescheduled flight, but on the day of the rescheduled flight, the airline allegedly failed to ask passengers for the required COVID-19 documentation. The passenger learned that at least three passengers had tested positive the day before for COVID-19. She would later experience severe symptoms, including damage to her olfactory epithelium and bulb, as well as to her blood vessels and brain cells and subsequently initiated this action in state court. The case was removed to federal court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and before this Court was the airlines Motion to Dismiss. The Court held that at this time, the plaintiff had pled sufficient facts showing a causal link between her wrongful exposure to COVID-19 and her injuries, and therefore the Court denied the airline’s Motion to Dismiss.
If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr at 202.659.6622 or esahr@eckertseamans.com; Drew Derco at 202-659-6665 or dderco@eckertseamans.com; Jay Julien at 202.659.6648 or jjulien@eckertseamans.com, or any other attorney at Eckert Seamans with whom you have been working.
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