Flight Attendants File Suit Against Federal Mask Mandate
Nine flight attendants from six airlines are suing the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) over the federal travel mask mandate. Flight attendants claim that masks are ineffective, cause breathing trouble, and that the policy is difficult to enforce.
They argue in the lawsuit that wearing a mask not only obstructs their ability to breathe normally but also endangers their physical safety as nearly 75% of the 5,800-plus incidents at airports and on airplanes last year were due to the mask mandate. The lawsuit calls the mandate “an illegal and unconstitutional exercise of executive authority.”
The plaintiffs provided sworn declarations in the lawsuit, stating that “face masks cause us numerous health problems including lightheadedness, dizziness, chest pain, overheating, perspiration, irritation, increase in stress, sore throat, fatigue, limited breathing capacity, reduced circulation in the limbs, headaches, weakened immune system, nausea, lung pain, brain fog, anxiety, inflammatory response, multiple upper respiratory disturbances, inflammation, sinus infection, cognitive dysfunction, malaise, coughing, and wheezing.”
The nine flight attendants work for Allegiant, American, Delta, Frontier, Southwest and United. Ten pilots from four airlines filed a similar lawsuit two weeks ago in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
The federal mask mandate for public transportation went into effect on Feb. 1, 2021. It was originally set to expire on May 11, 2021, but it has been extended several times since then. The latest extension was announced earlier this month, which means that the mask mandate is in affect at least through April 18.
Until then, the “CDC will work with government agencies to help inform a revised policy framework for when, and under what circumstances, masks should be required in the public transportation corridor,” TSA said in its statement.
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Mask mandates imposed by the executive branch exercising a federal police power based upon a never-ending “emergency” are clearly unconstitutional, and should have been overturned by courts long ago.
The police power to restrict personal physical liberty is for real emergencies, limited in scope and duration, like preventing someone from entering a disaster or emergency response area, even if they live there.
A “police power” with no limit on duration or scope is indistinguishable from a “police state,” which (supposedly) we don’t have.
Beyond the executive branch’s emergency police power lies the legislative power, which, in a constitutional republic, is supposed to be exercised only by the legislative branch. Our state and federal legislative branches of government cowardly abdicated their responsibility to make laws regarding COVID, to avoid later scrutiny or accountability.
And, of course. even legislative action restricting personal physical liberty is subject to “strict scrutiny,” meaning the restrictions imposed upon physical personal liberty must be the least restrictive way to accomplish a strong public interest. Although there has never been any legislative authorization of a mask mandate, the time has long since past when a mask mandate statute could have survived a “strict scrutiny” test.
If Biden extends the mask mandate again, he should be impeached.
I clicked over to see if there were any crazy snowflake comments & was not disappointed, thanks. 8/10
Wait, wait, wait – what happened to ‘Following the Science??’
what if face masks are yellow and blue? Do they work better then?
Do they cite the number of people who have died from wearing masks like doctors and surgeons? Will they accept their medical providers not wearing masks if they have to undergo surgery citing the same? It seems a little late in the game to file this lawsuit.
Good for these flight attendants and shame on the self serving unions for promoting the opposite