United Pilot Advances Bias Claim Involving ‘Sham’ Divorce Scandal

A United Airlines Inc. pilot can proceed to trial with his claim that the airline denied him a promotion because he was involved in a decade-old scandal where United’s predecessor accused him and others of getting “sham divorces” to secure pension benefit payments.

The pilot’s claim that United violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by denying him the assistant-chief-pilot position is timely, Judge William Alsup of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California held May 11. The pilot has also offered sufficient evidence—that he was referred by a human resources manager as “the one who has ...