Lawyers for Southwest Airlines have asked a federal judge in Dallas for more time to prepare a legal defense against a lawsuit brought by an organization that says the airline’s program offering free flights for low-income Hispanic students to go home to visit their parents is illegally discriminatory.
Senior U.S. District Judge Sidney Fitzwater ruled Dec. 6 that the lawsuit brought by the American Alliance for Equal Rights must proceed even though Southwest officials agreed to end the charitable effort several months ago.
The AAER, headed by political conservative Edward Blum, sued Southwest in April on behalf of a white student and an Asian student who said that they were illegally denied access to the Southwest charitable program, called “¡Lánzate!” or “Take off!”, because they are not Hispanic.
The AAER said that the Southwest program, which has reportedly helped more than 1,500 low-income Hispanic students travel to see their families for holidays and special events, violates the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. AAER argues that because Southwest has accepted money from the federal government, it is prohibited by law from any form of racial or ethnic discrimination in its business practices.
In response, Southwest agreed to end the charitable program and “executed a covenant that unconditionally and irrevocably eliminated” it in an effort to end the lawsuit. The Dallas-based airline sent AAER one penny — the amount the plaintiffs cited as damages — and asked AAER to voluntarily dismiss the case.
But AAER rejected the offer and returned the one cent, saying it wanted the lawsuit to continue.
Lawyers for Southwest then petitioned the judge to dismiss the case, saying that AAER’s request for injunctive relief is moot and that the federal court no longer has subject matter jurisdiction because the plaintiffs’ request for monetary damages is also no longer valid.
The judge, in a 14-page opinion, agreed with Southwest that AAER’s demand for injunctive relief is moot, but he said that “an unaccepted settlement offer is insufficient to render a case moot.”
“Alliance then promptly and unequivocally rejected the offer by returning the one cent to Southwest,” the judge wrote. “Southwest’s tender became an unaccepted settlement offer having no force.”
The case will go forward, the judge said.
Southwest lawyers filed a motion on Dec. 10 stating it needed more time to prepare additional arguments to defend the lawsuit. The judge granted the request Wednesday, giving Southwest until Jan. 21 to respond.
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