Brigida v. FAA: Case Against Racially Biased FAA Hiring Practices Cleared for Takeoff as a Class Action

Denver, ColoradoFebruary 1, 2020 — Mountain States Legal Foundation today announced a major step forward on an effort to hold the Federal Aviation Administration accountable for Obama-era hiring practices that were designed to exclude better-qualified air traffic control candidates, in favor of less-qualified candidates, all due to the color of their skin.

Federal judge Dabney Friedrich of the Federal District Court in the District of Columbia today approved class action certification for MSLF clients Andrew Brigida and Matthew Douglas-Cook and other aspiring air traffic controllers who scored highly on qualification tests but lost out on their dream jobs due to the FAA’s effort to skew the hiring process along racial lines.

That allows MSLF to represent approximately 1,000 qualified applicants who were passed over for an air traffic controller position as part of the FAA’s effort to prioritize racial characteristics over qualifications.

MSLF Attorney David C. McDonald offered the following statement following the ruling:

“We’re extraordinarily pleased with the Court’s order granting class certification this morning. This is a huge win for our clients. The FAA has been trying to insert false conflicts into our class for years now, but the Judge saw through their attempts to divide us. The Court ruled today that our lawsuit can go forward on behalf of the approximately 1,000 aspiring air traffic controllers who were illegally denied career opportunities by the federal government because of the color of their skin. Now that our class has been approved, we can move into the merits phase of the case, where we expect to prove the FAA engaged in illegal race discrimination against our class. We’re excited to begin this new stage of the litigation and expect to see much more success on behalf of the class moving forward.”

Plaintiffs and MSLF clients Andrew Brigida and Matthew L. Douglas-Cook were elated by the ruling.

“Today was a really great feeling,” said Brigida. “It was a shock finally hearing the Judge grant our motion to move the case along, and a long time coming.  Not many cases of this type even get to this point of the lawsuit. I know there is still a lot of work ahead to be done, but I feel that today was a huge hurdle to jump over, and probably one of the bigger ones.”

Brigida thanked MSLF and the rest of his legal team for getting this now-“class action” cleared for takeoff.

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Follow this link to view a video reaction from MSLF Senior Counsel Zhonette Brown.

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Brigida v. U.S. Department of Transportation

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