CHICAGO _ A mechanic at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport is suing American Airlines for fraud, claiming he was recruited under a fast-track pay program that was dropped two months after he was hired in 2015.
The lawsuit, filed Feb. 28 in Cook County Circuit Court, seeks class-action status and was brought by Thomas Ballard on behalf of potentially "hundreds of employees" who allegedly had their two-year flight to "top-scale" pay abruptly grounded by the airline.
Ballard was a 24-year aviation mechanic making more than $30 an hour working for another airline when he met with American Airlines in March 2015. The flex incentive program, which had been in place for about a year, offered credit for previous employment and a two-year track to a top-of-scale hourly wage of $48, according to the lawsuit.
Hired in June 2015 to work for American as an aviation maintenance technician at O'Hare, Ballard took a pay cut to $25.70 per hour under the premise that he could nearly double his pay within two years. By August, just several months removed from a "secure position" with another employer, Ballard learned that American was rescinding the incentive program, meaning it would take him eight years _ not two _ to reach the top pay rate, the lawsuit alleges.
"That's one heck of an incentive to people, saying you can go from A to B a lot quicker and faster and better than you could before," Larry Drury, a Chicago-based attorney representing Ballard in the lawsuit, said Wednesday. "Unfortunately, it has not turned out that way."
American Airlines spokeswoman Leslie Scott said the company can't comment on pending litigation.
The lawsuit alleges that American was already in discussions with representatives of the Transport Workers Union of America Local 591 to drop the program at the time Ballard was hired.
Brian Friedman, TWU Local 591's regional vice president, said Tuesday that he was not involved in the negotiations with American over the flex program and declined further comment.
The lawsuit alleges that American committed fraud, breach of oral contract and unjust enrichment and seeks actual, compensatory and punitive damages for Ballard and other potential members of the class.
"They breached the agreement, and the agreement goes not only to him but to all the other persons that we're seeking to represent here, which will become quite substantial," Drury said. "We would like to believe that the court will certify the class, but it's a long process before you get to that point."
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