Lobby Group Sues State of Minnesota For Delta Air Over ‘Pervasive’ Sick Leave Law That Encouages Flight Attendants to Abuse Absence Rules

A Washington D.C. lobby group that represents some of the biggest airlines in the United States, including American Airlines, Delta, and United, is suing the State of Minnesota over a ‘pervasive’ employee absence law that it alleges will encourage pilots, flight attendants, and other aviation workers to abuse sick leave.

Airlines for America, or A4A, claims in a lawsuit filed in a Minnesota district court late last month that the sick leave law is “already injuring (and will continue to injure) the Airlines with operations in Minnesota” and is demanding a permanent injunction to stop the law applying to airline staff.

Minnesota’s sick leave law, which is formerly known as the Minnesota Earned Sick and Safe Time Law, was signed into law by Governor Tim Walz in May 2023, and it became effective at the start of 2024.

The law allows workers to accrue up to 48 hours of leave per year, which can be used for a wide range of reasons, including personal sickness, as well as caring for a family member, preventative health care, and attending funerals.

Employers can not demand evidence like a doctor’s note for why sick leave had to be taken, and attendance points systems cannot be used to manage leave taken under the Minnesota law.

Airlines weren’t bothered by the Minnesota law when it was first introduced because there was a specific exemption for flight crew. But months after the law took effect, a union representing airline workers in the state effectively lobbied Minnesota lawmakers to have the exemption removed.

Although the state of Minnesota does allow companies with a collective bargaining agreement to waive the provisions of the sick leave law, A4A argues that airlines will “have to give up something costly to the union to secure a waiver.” Something that airlines don’t want to do.

Instead, A4A wants a local judge to issue a permanent injunction to stop the Minnesota law from applying to airline staff who live or work in the state. The lobby group argues that the Minnesota law is superseded by the Airline Deregulation Act and the Railway Labor Act.

In its 40-page complaint, A4A claims the Minnesota sick leave law “encourages employees to use and potentially abuse sick leave, and thus to be absent from work more frequently.”

A4A alleges that the law is already having a “significant impact” on airline prices, routes, and services and that the law is likely to lead to more flight delays and cancellations.

Delta Air Lines would be most likely to benefit from a change in favor of airline of the Minnesota sick leave law, given the fact that it has a large pilot and flight attendant base at Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport.

However, the law also applies to flight crew who live in Minnesota but commute out of state to get to their primary base. It also applies to workers from other airlines that operate throughout Minnesota.

This lawsuit is just the latest in a series of recent court cases pitting the aviation industry against local sick leave policies. Last September, the City of Oakland pursued legal action against Southwest Airlines over alleged violations of a sick leave law because the carrier doesn’t allow employees to carry over accrued sick leave hours into a new year.

In 2022, Southwest filed its own lawsuit against a sick leave law in Colorado after it racked up more than $1.3 million in fines for violating the state’s labor laws. In the same year, Alaska Airlines was accused of violating Washington state’s paid sick leave law.

Alaska Airlines was represented in court by A4A in an attempt to win an injunction against the law, but a court dismissed the case in 2019. The Supreme Court later refused to hear an appeal brought by Alaska Airlines.

The language and arguments used in the lawsuits brought by Southwest and Alaska Airlines mirror that of the latest lawsuit in Minnesota.

There are now 18 states that have introduced laws requiring employers to provide paid sick leave. There are also a slew of cities and districts that have also enacted similar rules.