Document: Air Traffic Controllers Union Sues Trump
Lawsuit says air traffic controllers "have been forced to continue performing their duties—duties essential to the ongoing function of this country—without any pay whatsoever."
January 11, 2019 at 12:00 PM
3 minute read
Photo: Dylan Ashe via Wikimedia Commons
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association on Friday sued the Trump administration over the continued partial government shutdown, saying airline controllers are being deprived "of their hard-earned compensation without the requisite due process."
"Controllers are responsible for ensuring the safe routing of tens of thousands of flights, often working lengthy, grueling overtime shifts to do so. In fact, plaintiffs' job is so demanding and requires such rare skills that the FAA struggles to maintain a full complement of certified Air Traffic Controllers, even under normal circumstances," according to the complaint, filed by the Washington firm Woodley & McGillivary.
More from the suit:
"Plaintiffs and those similarly situated have already worked two work weeks without compensation and will continue to work without compensation so until the government is reopened. Defendants' unlawful failure to pay plaintiffs and those similarly situated has and continues to have a devastating effect on those devoted federal employees' lives."
The complaint seeks, among other things, a "temporary restraint as well as preliminary and permanent injunction against the defendants' violation of the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution."
The lawsuit is the latest filed in Washington by federal employee unions seeking either backpay and other damages or a declaration that the Trump administration's government shutdown is violating federal law.
In another shutdown case, the law firm Kator, Parks, Weiser & Harris represents a group of named federal employees, including two from the Justice Department, who alleged their unpaid forced work violates federal law. The suit seeks an injunction stopping the Trump administration from requiring employees to report to work without pay.
"The public's interest lies in having a paid federal workforce, not forced labor under threat of permanent deprivation of one's livelihood," the plaintiffs said in a filing on Friday.
READ: National Air Traffic Controllers Association v. Trump:
Read more:
DC Circuit Judges Feud, and New Suits Pile Up, as Shutdown Drags On
Fifth Circuit Freezes Big Obamacare Case Amid Trump's Shutdown
Government Shutdown Leaves Law Student Externs Scrambling
Federal Judiciary Says 'Limited Funds' Will Expire Jan. 18
Some Federal Judges Spurn DOJ's Push to Pause Cases During Shutdown
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