Smith v. Comair

134 F.3d 254 (4th Cir. 1998)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

P boarded a D flight in Roanoke, Virginia to travel to Minneapolis, Minnesota, with a layover in the Cincinnati airport. D did not ask P for proof of identification when he boarded the flight in Roanoke. In Cincinnati, P attempted to board the connecting flight to Minneapolis. A D representative asked him 'to step aside.' D told P that a supervisor would be called. The supervisor, Mr. Price, arrived thirty minutes after the Minneapolis flight's departure. Price would not explain why P could not fly out of the Cincinnati airport. Two security guards were also standing approximately fifty and seventy feet away observing him. P testified that these officers watched him throughout the rest of his stay in the Cincinnati airport. Three hours later, Price finally told P he was denied permission to board because he did not match the physical description contained in his Delta frequent-flyer account. P called his company's travel agent and learned that Delta did not maintain a record of physical descriptions in connection with frequent-flyer accounts. P confronted Price with this information. Price continued to insist that the dissimilar physical description was the reason P was not permitted to board. At approximately 1:00 or 2:00 p.m., Price returned and told P the real reason he was refused permission to board was that Roanoke had failed to ask for photo identification, as shown by the absence of pink highlighting on his boarding pass. P replied that he could not produce his driver's license because he had left it in the glove compartment of his car, which was parked at the Roanoke airport. P offered to have his physical description faxed by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles ('DMV') or to pay D's expenses if they would enter his car, retrieve his driver's license, and fly it to Cincinnati on the next available flight. Sometime after 3:00 p.m., Price gave P a ticket to Roanoke and told him D would return him there. P spoke to Price again and stated that he was so angry he 'would like to punch [Price] in the mouth.' Price motioned for the two security guards who approached and restrained P. Price asked them to remove P from the terminal. P explained his situation to the guard and police officer, the officer intervened and convinced Price to permit P to fly to Roanoke. P then returned to Roanoke. P sued Ds alleging in part false imprisonment. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Ds. P appealed.