Oakland City Council kills lawsuit against Southwest Airlines

Final yr, the Oakland Metropolis Legal professional sued Southwest Airways for allegedly depriving a few of its 1000’s of staff of paid sick depart. Final week, with out rationalization, the Oakland Metropolis Council quietly ended the lawsuit throughout a closed-door assembly.

A memo of the closed-door assembly outlined the historical past of the case however gave no cause why council members directed town lawyer to dismiss the case towards the Oakland airport’s largest airline and not using a settlement.

Council members Ken Houston, Kevin Jenkins, Noel Gallo, Janani Ramachandran and Charlene Wang voted to finish the lawsuit. Councilor Zac Unger voted towards. Councilors Carroll Fife and Rowena Brown had been absent and didn’t vote.

On Wednesday, town filed a movement in Alameda County Superior Court docket to dismiss the case with out prejudice.

In a press release to The Oaklandside, Metropolis Legal professional Ryan Richardson mentioned, “Whereas that is actually not the result our workplace anticipated when the Council permitted this lawsuit final yr, we totally respect the Council’s authority below the Metropolis Constitution to direct us to dismiss the lawsuit.”

“As to why a council member voted the way in which they did, it isn’t my place to talk on their behalf,” Richardson mentioned. “What I can say is that I’m deeply grateful to the workers who raised considerations about sick depart compliance, the devoted workers at Oakland’s Division of Office and Employment Requirements for his or her thorough investigation, and the attorneys in our workplace who labored laborious on this case for months.”

Oakland is one among many main cities that does its own labor legislation employers should adjust to these, together with guidelines concerning the minimal wage and sick depart. Oakland voters permitted sick depart guidelines in 2014.

The Oaklandside contacted every council member a number of instances for an interview about this choice. Houston mentioned he filed the movement to dismiss the lawsuit as a result of “this has been occurring for too lengthy.”

“Sufficient is sufficient, I am achieved, I am drained,” mentioned Houston, who added that he has been asking town since he took workplace in January to drop this lawsuit, noting that the underlying case has been occurring for seven years and that worker complaints are merely “allegations.”

Houston mentioned he was additionally involved about Southwest divert flights away from Oakland, though he added that was not the explanation he pushed to finish the lawsuit.

Houston mentioned he plans to fulfill with Southwest representatives within the coming weeks to “break bread with them.” The council’s choice, he mentioned, lets different Oakland companies know that town’s new management desires to “construct partnerships” with companies.

“If you happen to do what’s proper, you may be tremendous, and in the event you do not, we’ll put the hammer down,” Houston mentioned. “You will have a brand new management that stands up for the individuals.”

Wang instructed The Oaklandside that she voted to dismiss the lawsuit, partly as a result of it has been occurring for years, but in addition as a result of “sadly our inbound site visitors from the southwest has taken fairly successful.”

“For me, it wasn’t in regards to the deserves of the lawsuit,” Wang mentioned. “This was not a simple vote for me. However I additionally wished to take heed to my colleagues who had probably the most at stake, given the roles and financial exercise of their districts.”

Wang mentioned she helps a number of the optimistic litigation town lawyer has pursued, however emphasised that it is necessary for town to deal with instances the place there are direct advantages to town, given Oakland’s restricted monetary and human sources. She additionally mentioned the potential of Southwest leaving town got here up through the council dialogue, one thing else Oakland leaders ought to think about.

“It’s clear that they’re a flawed employer,” Wang mentioned. “However is it higher to have a faulty employer or no employer?”

Jenkins instructed The Oaklandside by means of his chief of workers that he had no touch upon his vote. Not one of the different council members responded to our questions.

Houston added that he spoke with port representatives, whom he didn’t establish. “They had been completely satisfied that it was resolved, and so they had been very involved about how lengthy it had been occurring,” Houston mentioned.

We reached out to port commissioners, however nobody responded to our interview requests. Airport spokesperson Kaley Skantz mentioned the port was not a celebration to town’s lawsuit or to any motion taken through the council’s closed-door deliberations.

“The Port has at numerous instances inspired each the Metropolis of Oakland and Southwest Airways to hunt an amicable decision to the authorized motion,” Skantz mentioned in an e mail.

In line with a former Metropolis Corridor insider, some Oakland officers had beforehand thought of settling the lawsuit by having Southwest comply with make financial growth commitments to Oakland, together with investments within the airport modernization undertaking. It’s unclear whether or not that proposal was ever put ahead. The insider, who requested to not be named, additionally alleged that Southwest had repeatedly contacted Oakland officers in regards to the lawsuit.

A Southwest spokesperson declined to reply questions, citing ongoing litigation.

The corporate beforehand mentioned claims that Oakland staff can be compelled to work whereas sick or on unpaid absences had been unfounded. The corporate promised it might vigorously defend itself towards “these frivolous claims” in court docket.

Oakland battled Southwest for years over alleged labor regulation violations

The town filed a lawsuit towards Southwest in September 2024, accusing the airline of violating a number of native legal guidelines, together with town’s minimal wage and sick depart ordinance, in addition to state labor regulation. The complaint accused Southwest of denying a few of its 3,000 staff in Oakland the fitting to make use of paid sick depart and retaliating towards staff who tried to make use of their depart advantages.

In a 2024 Frequently asked questionsThen-Metropolis Legal professional Barbara Parker defined that in 2017, Oakland started receiving complaints from Oakland staff about Southwest. In line with the FAQ, Southwest had a coverage of zeroing out unused sick depart that its staff had accrued every year, and failed to make sure that staff accrued paid sick depart on the fee required by metropolis regulation. The town reached a settlement with Southwest in 2020, however Oakland subsequently obtained extra worker complaints about new and different violations.

Amongst her calls for was that town wished Southwest to totally adjust to Oakland and California’s paid sick depart legal guidelines; providing restitution, compensation and fines to affected staff; and pay enforcement prices and fines to town.

A spokesperson for the Metropolis Legal professional’s Workplace instructed The Oaklandside that, to their data, Southwest’s alleged violations of the 2020 settlement haven’t been remedied.

The town lawyer was actively pursuing the lawsuit simply two weeks in the past, when it filed a movement in Alameda County Superior Court docket to compel Southwest to show over paperwork as a part of the invention. In line with that movement, Southwest produced a complete of two paperwork, along with a restricted set of paperwork it had beforehand shared with town within the 2020 settlement. The town additionally sought monetary penalties towards Southwest for stopping Oakland from resolving the lawsuit.

Southwest can also be embroiled in a lawsuit with the union that represents a lot of its staff, Transport Employees Union Native 555. Earlier this yr, the airline accused the union of violating the federal Railway Labor Act, a statute that governs labor agreements between unions and “common airways,” which incorporates Southwest.

Within the lawsuit with Oakland, Southwest filed a so-called cross-complaint, basically a countersuit that’s a part of the identical case. Within the cross-complaint, Southwest alleged that the Transport Employees Union Native 555 did not implement its collective bargaining settlement with the corporate by encouraging town to analyze worker complaints. The airline additionally accused the union of offering town lawyer with false or deceptive data, noting that the union’s then-president Abilio Villaverde provided a quote which town lawyer might use within the press launch asserting the lawsuit.

The union has filed a movement to dismiss Southwest’s cross-complaint. Tony Slavings, president of Transport Employees Union Native 555, declined to touch upon the case. An lawyer representing the union additionally didn’t reply to an inquiry.