Wash. Supreme Court published opinion — 897239.pdf

Citation: Wash. Supreme Court published opinion — 897239.pdf
Jurisdiction: Washington (state)
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Original Source: https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/897239.pdf ↗

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service (called "'skycaps'") at Logan Airport in Massachusetts sued American

Airlines over a $2-per-bag fee. 646 F.3d at 82-83. The skycaps contended that

passengers stopped tipping them because the passengers assumed that the $2 fee was a

mandatory tip rather than a charge paid to the airline. Id. The skycaps sued American

Airlines under a Massachusetts statute governing tips, arguing that the law required

the airline to give them any "'tip[s] or service charge[s]"' and that the bag fee

constituted "a 'service charge' under state law (and must therefore go to the skycaps)

because customers 'reasonably expect[ ed]' it to be given to the skycaps." Id. at 84

(third alteration in original) (quoting MASS. GEN. LAWS ch. 149, § 152A(a), (b)). The

First Circuit concluded that because the tip law had "a direct connection to air carrier

prices and services," the ADA preempted it. Jd. at 87. The court reasoned that if the

airline wanted to avoid having the law "deem the curbside check-in fee a 'service

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89723-9

charge[,]' [it] would require changes in the way the service is provided or advertised."

ld. at 88. The court recognized, though, that if the law merely regulated "how the

airline behave[ d] as an employer," the ADA would likely not preempt the law, even if

the law indirectly affected fares and services. ld. at 87-88.

Likewise, in Mendonca, the Ninth Circuit held that a federal law that is

analogous to the ADA for preemption purposes (the Federal Aviation Administration

Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAA), 49 U.S.C. § 1450) 10 did not preempt California's

Prevailing Wage Law (CPWL), CAL. LABOR CODE§§ 1770-1780, because it