Civil Rights Commission orders Aloha Islandair to pay $1.4M in damages

Civil Rights Commission orders Aloha Islandair to pay $1.4M in damages

Aloha Islandair has been ordered by the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission to
pay $1.4 million in damages to a pilot in an employment discrimination case.
In its largest award to date, the commission issued its decision on Nov. 22,
finding that the airline discriminated against commercial pilot Bruce Pied
on the basis of his monocular vision, sight out of only one eye.

The commission found Pied was fully qualified to fly the aircraft used by
Islandair, had been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration and that
there was illegal discriminatory intent by the carrier. The case has been
litigated since 1994, when the carrier sought to have it dismissed.
Islandair argued Hawaii's anti-descrimination law was pre-empted by the
federal Airline Deregulation Act. But in 1997, the federal Ninth Circuit
Court of Appeals held the commission did have jurisdiction over the
disability discrimination claim.

Islandair was ordered to give Pied back pay, lost earnings, compensatory and
punitive damages, as well as attorneys fees and costs. The carrier also was
to cease its policy of refusing to hire monocular pilots who have an FAA
vision waiver.


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