Pilot Who Sought Help for Depression Sues Employer | Aviation International News

Pilot Who Sought Help for Depression Sues Employer

A Houston-based pilot working for U.S.

Michael Hirsch diverted his ExpressJet ERJ 145 from Milwaukee to a nearby regional airport soon before the airline grounded him, allegedly for a psychological condition. (Photo: ExpressJet)

By Gregory Polek • Senior Editor

September 19, 2011

A Houston-based pilot working for U.S. regional airline ExpressJet has filed a lawsuit against his company and its parent, Atlanta-based Atlantic Southeast Airlines, claiming retaliation against him for refusing to fly during severe weather conditions. In the filing, the pilot, Michael Hirsch, alleges ExpressJet used his pursuit of treatment for depression through an employee assistance program during a divorce years before as reasoning for grounding him.

According Hirsch’s legal team, ExpressJet cited a psychological condition for the grounding after the pilot refused to jeopardize passenger and crew safety on a February 2009 flight from Houston to Milwaukee. Scott Lemond, one of the principal partners of Houston-based Lemond & Lemond, told AIN that rather than holding for 45 minutes over Milwaukee General Mitchell International Airport while it had closed for snow removal, Hirsch decided to divert to Dane County Regional Airport because the Embraer ERJ 145 he piloted had run low on fuel. Lemond said that extreme snow and ice conditions forced the closure of the airport on several occasions that day.

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