Judge denies skycaps' bid against tip ban
American Airlines can ban the tipping of skycaps at Logan International Airport who won a lawsuit against the airline last month over the tips they earn, a federal judge ruled yesterday.
Without a hearing or explanation, US District Judge William G. Young denied a request by lawyers for the skycaps to order the airline to lift the ban it imposed Thursday. The ban prohibits passengers from tipping skycaps who help check in luggage at the curb for $2 a bag.
Shannon Liss-Riordan, a Boston lawyer for the skycaps, said Young may have denied the skycaps' motion on procedural grounds. She plans to renew her request in a different form later this week.
She also said the office of state Attorney General Martha Coakley has told her that it is investigating whether the tips ban represents illegal retaliation against employees. The attorney general enforces labor laws and has the authority to penalize employers who violate them.
"We believe that the attorney general's office, once it looks at this matter, will issue citations against American Airlines for blatant and obvious retaliation," Liss-Riordan said.
Emily LaGrassa, a spokeswoman for Coakley, said the office has a policy of neither confirming nor denying investigations.
"When there's something to say, I'm happy to let you know," she said.
Tim Smith, a spokesman for American Airlines, said the carrier was pleased with Young's ruling. Smith said he was unaware of an investigation by Coakley's office and denied that the ban represents retaliation.
On April 7, a jury in US District Court awarded a group of nine American Airlines skycaps at Logan more than $325,000 for tips they lost after the airline in September 2005 began charging customers $2 a bag to check in luggage at the curb.
The jury concluded that those fees belonged to the skycaps, who testified that their tips plunged because passengers mistakenly thought the employees kept the $2 and were reluctant to tip on top of it.
On May 1, the airline announced that it planned to appeal the jury's verdict and that it had begun prohibiting the tipping of skycaps.
The airline said the ban, plus its decision to raise the pay of most skycaps from $5.15 an hour to between $12 and $15 an hour, would remove the workers from the list of employees who are covered by the state's tips law.
But several skycaps and passengers interviewed by the Globe last week condemned the ban.
In denying the skycaps' objection yesterday, Young also denied a request by the airline to set aside the jury verdict until American Airlines appeals it.
After Liss-Riordan asks the court again to order the airline to lift the tips ban, she plans to seek a temporary restraining order as part of another complaint against American Airlines on behalf of 11 other skycaps at Logan. The request will also be on behalf of skycaps from at least seven airports around the country. She said she also intends to add a claim of retaliation.
Jonathan Saltzman can be reached at jsaltzman@globe.com.
