LOS ANGELES—An Irvine attorney filed court papers on July 30 alleging his family was denied boarding a return flight from Mexico to Los Angeles in the spring unless their 2-year-old child received the coronavirus vaccination, then denied boarding even after the child got the shot and tested negative.
Marc Y. Lazo’s still-unofficial Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit alleges intentional infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment, and violation of the state Business and Professions Code. Lazo seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
An Alaska Airlines representative could not be immediately reached for comment.
Lazo, his wife and their two children attempted to board a flight headed from Puerto Vallarta to Los Angeles International Airport on April 23 when an Alaska Airlines agent stopped them and demanded their 2-year-old child be vaccinated first, according to Lazo’s court papers, which do not state the child’s gender.
When Lazo told the agent that his family had an important event to attend in Los Angeles that evening, she told him there was an off-site testing location, and that they could all still get on the aircraft if the child tested negative, Lazo’s court papers state.
Lazo left with the 2-year-old to get the COVID test, causing the plaintiff extreme distress, while his wife stayed at the airport gate with their other child, who was less than a year old, according to Lazo’s court papers.
Lazo returned with the vaccinated older child along with proof of a negative test, but the family still was not allowed to get on the flight by an Alaska Airlines employee who stepped outside of a kiosk, pointed a finger at him, yelled, and temporarily prevented him from moving so he could put his screaming 2-year-old in a stroller, according to Lazo’s court papers. The employee eventually calmed down and went back behind the kiosk, Lazo’s court papers state.
With the intervention of a customer service agent, Lazo and his family were able to board a flight four hours after their scheduled departure time, making it too late for them to attend the event they planned to attend in Los Angeles, according to Lazo’s court papers, which further state the events caused him humiliation and emotional distress.
