The Legal System and Aviation

 Is There Justice?

The Curious "Cases"of 

Federal Judge Robert S. Lasnik

United States District Court 

for the Western District of Washington

"I'm a judge and you can't touch me!"

Disclaimer: All quoted statements under Judge Lasnik's pictures are "captions"... not his actual statements. 

Appointed by former President Bill Clinton, Judge Lasnik has "Senior Status,"  He was also assigned to my DFR lawsuit against ALPA. But let's back up a bit....

Delta paid Dr. David B. Altman $74,000 in their retaliatory effort to get rid of me for bringing forth safety concerns.  Check out the Maximus video. if you're new to this event. Delta lost. Delta lost again in appeal. They finally threw in the towel. I retired from Delta thereafter because nobody was held accountable. 

Delta has a policy that retaliation will not be tolerated subject to termination, yet nobody was disciplined; all were either promoted or retained their same positions. I'm most certain when the CEO/Chairman of the board is involved, you cannot discipline others and allow yourself to go unscathed. 

The FAA has a little thing called a reporting culture that supports a Federal Regulation called SMS. Yet, they, too, have looked the other way. 

Unfortunately ALPA helped Delta, directed by National ALPA where Delta runs that pilot union. You can find the list of  grievances I was fighting for the pilots here, and ALPA threw me under the bus. All grievances were thrown out. ALPA even signed a letter enabling Delta to take me back to court with a collateral estoppel claim. 

I had gone years fighting this Delta battle alone, and the thousands of dollars I paid in dues be damned! What can be done?

"Come on, what's the problem she got her job back?"

The Final Straw. The Grievance: 

At the opening of the grievance hearing Jeff Wall, Delta's attorney stated:  

"This proceeding here, in the view of Delta Air Lines, is not a proceeding in which the Association and Delta are necessarily opposing parties.

 First Officer Petitt has repeatedly criticized, and I would suggest even defamed representatives of the Association, including representatives of the national organization for ALPA, local counsel for ALPA, and other ALPA representatives, including what’s known as AMAS, of ALPA Aeromedical."

Jeff Loesel (Jeffrey.Loesel@alpa.org) my National ALPA attorney remained silent. He did not object that ALPA and Delta were not opposing parties. His silence told arbitrator Gerald E. Wallin that he agreed with Jeff Wall and that Delta and ALPA were in this together against me. 

After ALPA signed the Document 

That sent me Back to Court

I finally filed that DFR

Duty of Fair Representation

And Judge Lasnik was assigned!

"Cross my heart I would never..." 

I thought Lasnik was a labor judge and might believe in the sanctity of the union representing pilots. Then it occurred to me, if he was a Labor guy, would he rule in favor of the union despite what they did? But truth be told, the numbers of ways that ALPA did not defend me were too many and too obvious. And an ALPA National attorney telling the arbitrator he agreed with Delta by silence, a tacit agreement they were on the same side, could not be over looked. 

June 3, 2021, Judge Lasnik Ruled in 

Favor of ALPA

"You don't understand...it's far too technical" 

Judge Lasnik did not believe that the ALPA attorney's silence, when Delta said they were on the same side, followed by Arbitrator Wallin immediately requesting a "ten minute break" so he could “Sit here and think about things for a while" had any bearing on Wallin's decision.  

Because Judge Lasnik decided that Loesel's and Delta's actions were above board, he would not allow all other facts of the case into the trial, because they were time-barred. Judge Lasnik is a voracious reader, and I would bet  that he's read the Federalist Papers No 78 and knows that the reason the AIR21 law was enacted because safety cannot be in the hands of a businessman... the arbitrator. They can be bought. 

I also had two other cases, both fraud. One against Dr. Altman and the other against Delta's in house attorney, Christopher Puckett. 

"Yeah baby... I can take care of these cases too!"

December 7, 2021 

Both Fraud Cases 

are Re-Assigned to Judge Lasnik! 

Despite a few holiday's and a typical Federal judge's workload, within only 5 months he ruled in favor of Delta... I mean Puckett. I filed an appeal in the 9th circuit but ended dropping it after a Delta attorney had told me that Delta had engaged a war of attrition on me. What could I do? I did not have the inclination to fight the losing battle with very deep pockets. 

But I proceeded with Dr. Altman's case. 

"It's not my fault... it's called power, money and politics"

January 31, 2023 I retired because a captain should not have to look over her shoulder for the remainder of her career, or deal with ongoing insidious ways that a management team could legally retaliate. The many ways I experienced retaliation, from the moment Delta lost the case, took my health. Delta's retaliation even grounded passengers from Seattle to Amsterdam when scheduling refused me the flight to avoid paying me a greenslip. Pilots should focus on flying, not what the company will do next. And no amount of money or any job is worth your health 

Coincidentally, the day I retired... 

January 31, 2023, 

Judge Lasnik 

Ruled in Favor 

of Dr. Altman! 

"The coincidence was only this big"

I filed a motion to reconsider because he not only ruled incorrectly on the facts, but I had new evidence to admit. Dr. Chien, an FAA approved AME  acknowledged that Dr. Altman was “his mentor”, that he “taught him his process”, that “doctors can be bought,” and that “this (buying doctors) is a dirty business.” Of course Lasnik will see reason. Nope. 

May 05/2023

Judge Lasnik 

Denied My  Motion

"You've got to see it my way...If so, I'll sell you 

some oceanside property in Oklahoma." 

July 9, 2023

I filed an Appeal in 

The 9th Circuit Court

Judge Lasnik cannot possibly have an unbiased opinion in this case due to his participation in the process that relieved Delta’s other collaborators from liability. If this were to go to trial, that information becomes public and the world will see his faulty ruling in both Puckett and ALPA. 

Delta cannot allow this to go to to trial because the world will see the details of what they did and the players involved. Furthermore, Judge Lasnik erroneously applied the applicable motion to dismiss standard and incorrectly considered documents outside of the pleadings. 

What Judge Lasnik did was enmeshed a Pro Se litigant in a procedural web and failed to judge on the merits of the case. 

Shame, shame on Judge Lasnik! 

"Who me?" YES YOU! 

Please Join me in a Prayer

That the 9th Circuit of Appeals 

Will allow me to proceed with this case!

This is the final opportunity to 

hold someone accountable

in the interest of Aviation Safety!

In the Interest of Justice! 

Enjoy the Journey
Dr. Karlene Petitt
PhD. MBA. MHS.
A350, B777, A330, B747-400, B747-200, B767, B757, B737, B727