We Have Immunity: It’s For Your Own Good…And Next We’ll Report You To The IRS.

An airline pilot’s employment was to be terminated after he had an outburst during simulator training and did not complete the training. Other employees at the airline discussed two prior episodes involving other disgruntled airline persons who lashed out violently, and the other employees reported the pilot’s name to the Transportation Security Administration [TSA], informing TSA they were “concerned about his mental stability and the whereabouts of his firearm.” TSA responded by ordering the pilot’s plane to return to the gate, and then boarding the plane and removing, searching and questioning the pilot about the location of his gun, which was in his home in another state. The next day, the airline fired the pilot. The pilot brought an action against the airline for defamation, and after a jury trial, he was awarded $1.2 million. When Congress passed the Aviation and Transportation Security Act [ATSA; 49 U.S.C. § 44901 et seq.] in 2001, it gave airlines and their employees immunity against civil liability for reporting suspicious behavior. But the immunity does not attach to “any disclosure made with actual knowledge that the disclosure was false, inaccurate, or misleading” or to “any disclosure made with reckless disregard as to the truth or falsity of that disclosure.” When the case reached the United States Supreme Court, the high court stated: “The question before us is whether ATSA immunity may be denied. . . . without a determination that a disclosure was materially false. We hold that it may not.  Because the state courts made no such determination, and because any falsehood in the disclosure here would not have affected a reasonable security officer’s assessment of the supposed threat, we reverse the judgment of the Colorado Supreme Court.” (Air Wisconsin Airlines Corp. v. Hoeper  (U.S. Sup. Ct.; January 27, 2014) 134 S.Ct. 852, [187 L.Ed.2d 744].)