$18 Million for Bad Clothes? American Airlines Flight Attendants win ‘Toxic Uniform’ Lawsuit

Safety at Work

Alameda, CA (WorkersCompensation.com) – Five American Airlines flight attendants won their lawsuit against the airline for “toxic uniforms.”

The outcome could be a portend for some 400 other flight attendants who say the uniforms made them sick. The flight attendants were collectively awarded more than $18 million by a California jury. Officials said the verdict in the trial comes after a seven-year legal battle.

The five crew members sued American Airlines and its uniform manufacturer, Twin Hill. Flight attendants reported that the uniforms they were issued in 2016 left some crew members with crippling health problems.

According to court records, the jury found that the Twin Hill uniforms failed “to perform as safely as an ordinary consumer would have expected them to perform when used or misused in a reasonably foreseeable way.” The jury said Twin Hill was negligent in supplying the shirts and aprons and negligent in failing to recall these uniform items after flight attendants reported issues with the uniforms.

The crew members were awarded settlements for past economic losses, future economic losses, as well as past and future physical and mental suffering. Compensation for the five crew members came to $18.6 million of which Twin Hill will pay 90 percent, and American Airlines will pay 10 percent.

In 2015, American Airlines partnered with Twin Hill to produce a new line of uniforms for 65,000 pilots, flight attendants and customer service agents. Initial wear tests on the uniforms found that a small group of employees had skin reactions to the garments. Independent scientific testing of the material didn’t find anything conclusive.

In the fall of 2015, the companies conducted a second wear test. Some employees then reported a chemical smell from the uniforms. The uniforms were sent back for more testing, but results indicated the garments lacked “irritation potential.” American Airlines moved forward with the new uniforms in September 2016.

However, the airline received numerous complaints from employees about the new uniforms, some of them coming from a special hotline and web pages created by flight attendant unions. Lawyers for some of the flight attendants in California alleged that the uniforms were contaminated with formaldehyde which can cause breathing issues.

Independent chemical testing of the uniforms found more than a dozen other chemicals “known to cause dermatological, respiratory, neurologic, and allergenic/immunological conditions,” the lawsuit said.

By 2017, American Airlines allowed flight attendants to start wearing off the rack clothing. Even then, some crew members said they were affected just by being in close proximity to coworkers dressed in the Twin Hill uniforms.

In 2020, American Airlines decided on new uniforms provided by Lands’ End. The airline denies any responsibility for the uniforms.

As part of the testimony, lawyers for the crew members put on witnesses who testified a 2018 study by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health found a link between new uniforms and health complaints by Alaska Airline attendants. A 2010 study by Congressional researchers found that formaldehyde levels in clothing is generally low, but some people suffer allergic reactions to it that can include the symptoms expressed by the flight attendants.

Twin Hill’s attorney put witnesses on the stand who discounted those potential health effects.

The win comes just weeks after a Chicago court issued a summary judgment in favor of American Airlines and Twin Hill. In that case, U.S. District Judge John Tharp, Jr. concluded that expert witnesses were unable to prove the uniforms had caused the health complaints the flight attendants reported. While the court said it was true that the flight attendants had suffered a variety of issues, including rashes, hives, breathing difficulties, and other significant medical conditions, there wasn’t enough admissible evidence to link the illnesses to the uniforms.

That case had shut down some of the other claims against the company.

Attorneys for the flight attendants said they were happy with the outcome.

“It’s been a long road, but we’re very happy with the outcome,” Daniel Balaban, one of the lawyers for the airline employees told the Associated Press. “We couldn’t represent better clients — who doesn’t love a flight attendant?”

He said the other cases against the companies would go to trial if Twin Hill decided not to settle them. Twin Hill could ask the judge to reduce the jury award or could appeal the verdict.

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