Court Sides with Pilots in Divorce Case

The 5^th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Continental Airline pilots this week. The court sided with the nine pilots who either resigned or were fired by the airline company after divorcing, and then remarrying, their former spouses.

The court decision was made in October 2009 and on Monday the appellate court upheld the ruling and sided with the pilots.

In the case, Continental stated that the pilots purposely divorced “in order to take advantage of a loophole in federal pension law allowing divorced spouses to collect pension payments before the worker retires.”

The pilots’ lawyers argued that Continental’s investigation went too far into the private, legal divorces of its employees.

Steve Mitby, one lawyer representing the pilots, said about the decision, “The court affirmed those principles and created precedent that protects others when it stated categorically that pension plans should not be investigating the private lives of employees.”

Source: PR Newswire