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| Allen Press |
When I reached him on the phone this afternoon, Allen Press, the attorney who represented the TWA pilots in Brady v. ALPA was pragmatic. "It is a compromise," he said of the figure which was considerably below the amount ALPA might have been expected to pay if the financial losses of all two thousand plus pilots were tallied and presented to the court. But the dollar figure was what Press called, meaningful. "The case has been going on for 12 years and the end was not in sight."
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| Former TWA pilots and their lawyers in 2011 |
But winning a jury verdict is far from the end of the matter. Press and his plaintiffs including Alan Altman, now a pilot with JetBlue had to prepare for another trial, this one to determine how much ALPA should pay for its bad behavior. In these discussions, nearly every figure tossed around was higher than the announced settlement. Some even suggested the damages could exceed one billion.
On the other hand, the plaintiff's lawyers had to consider how much ALPA could even pay. They were working with the idea that the union's net worth was $30 million and the insurance wasn't such a sure thing. Would bankrupting the union benefit the plaintiffs?
On the other hand, the plaintiff's lawyers had to consider how much ALPA could even pay. They were working with the idea that the union's net worth was $30 million and the insurance wasn't such a sure thing. Would bankrupting the union benefit the plaintiffs?
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| Lee Moak, ALPA photo |
In his announcement to members, Moak promised dues will not rise and insurance will pay part of the claim. He may be gritting his teeth, but Moak must be hoping that by paying the money, this nasty business will soon be visible in his rear-view mirror.
The same cannot be said for the wronged TWA pilots. Press must now come up with a plan to divvy up the money so that those most affected will receive fair compensation without pushing those who do not receive as much to challenge the distribution. "We've been working for a couple of weeks on different formulas and we are close to where we have an optimum model," Press said. "It's not a number to make everybody happy, but a lot of people felt vindicated" in 2011, when the court affirmed they'd been wronged.
So to the question, "What's the penalty for treachery and deception?", it would appear the answer is $53 million. But there's no certainty that everyone who fell victim to it will agree that 12 years is long enough and its time to move on.