An ex- Alaska lawmaker who was barred from flying with Alaska Airlines because she refused to abide by coronavirus policies on masking is currently suing the airline as well as about a dozen employees.
Former state senator. Lora Reinbold, a Republican from Eagle River, says in her federal civil lawsuit filed Friday she was violated by the airlines rights under the Constitution and resulted in her being humiliated and stressed.
Reinbold is suing herself in the lawsuit, and has asked for at minimum $6.5 million of damages for each defendant in the lawsuit, which amounts to at minimum $97.5 million.
In the suit, Reinbold was suffering from a health illness that she claimed caused breathing with the mask difficult.
Reinbold states in the suit that the airline did not issue clear policies regarding the exemptions for wearing masks for those like her that she claims was mandated through officials from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as the Federal Department of Transportation’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection.
The lawsuit claims that Reinbold was preparing to take off on a flight from Juneau on the 22nd of April 2021. She requested for an Alaska Airlines check-in agent about an exemption from the airline mask requirement. According to the lawsuit there was a debate about whether Reinbold had received results from a negative test in the days before her flight and whether giving her medical documents with the Alaska Airlines doctor would violate the privacy laws for medical records.
In the end, Reinbold was told she was required to wear a face mask before she could be permitted to board the flight.
The video clip of the exchange shared through social media shows Reinbold engaging in a heated debate with Alaska Airlines employees.
According to the suit Reinbold’s flight reservation to Juneau was not listed in her reservations the next day, and she was notified that she was banned from flying Alaska Airlines, which had the sole regularly scheduled flights to Juneau.
As the politician, Reinbold was to be to return in Juneau within a couple of days after which, after failing to negotiate with the airline Reinbold drove for miles and hopped on the ferry to reach her destination.
Many attempts to contact Reinbold on Monday did not succeed.
Alaska Airlines declined to comment.
Reinbold was a member of her time in the Alaska Legislature first as a member of the House from 2013 until 2019 and then as a member of the Senate from 2019 until 2023 when she retired.
