Irvine attorney sues Alaska Airlines over child vaccination snafu

LOS ANGELES (CNS) — An Irvine lawyer filed court docket papers Saturday alleging his household was denied boarding of a return flight from Mexico to Los Angeles within the spring except their 2-year-old baby acquired the coronavirus vaccination, then denied boarding once more even after getting the kid a shot and examined destructive.

Marc Y. Lazo’s still-unofficial Los Angeles Superior Courtroom lawsuit alleges intentional infliction of emotional misery, false imprisonment and violation of the state Enterprise and Professions Code. Lazo seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

An Alaska Airways consultant couldn’t be instantly reached for remark.

Lazo, his spouse and their two youngsters tried to board a flight headed from Puerto Vallarta to Los Angeles Worldwide Airport on April 23 when an Alaska Airways agent stopped them and demanded their 2-year-old baby be vaccinated first, based on Lazo’s court docket papers, which don’t state the kid’s gender.

When Lazo advised the agent that his household had an vital occasion to attend in Los Angeles that night, she advised him there was an off-site testing location and that they may all nonetheless get on the plane if the kid examined destructive, Lazo’s court docket papers state.

Lazo left with the 2-year-old to get the COVID take a look at, inflicting the plaintiff excessive misery, whereas his spouse stayed on the airport gate with their different baby, who was lower than a yr previous, based on Lazo’s court docket papers.

Lazo returned with the vaccinated older baby together with proof of a destructive take a look at, however the household nonetheless was not allowed to get on the flight by an Alaska Airways worker who stepped outdoors of a kiosk, pointed a finger at him, yelled and quickly prevented him from transferring so he might put his screaming 2-year-old in a stroller, based on Lazo’s court docket papers. The worker finally calmed down and went again behind the kiosk, Lazo’s court docket papers state.

With the intervention of a customer support agent, Lazo and his household had been capable of board a flight 4 hours after their scheduled departure time, making it too late for them to attend the occasion they deliberate to attend in Los Angeles, based on Lazo’s court docket papers, which additional state the occasions precipitated him humiliation and emotional misery.