This week in 1981, President Ronald Reagan fired all of the striking Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (“PATCO”) union members who would not return to work for the FAA as he had ordered. Since only 1,300 returned to work upon his order, he ultimately fired the remaining 11,345 PATCO strikers, both barring them from obtaining federal employment for three years and banning them from reemployment with the FAA for life. Then, on August 12, 1993, President Bill Clinton lifted this ban and said the PATCO strikers could be eligible for rehire to the FAA. A class of PATCO strikers, who had joined the pool of air traffic control applicants, believes that, since 1999, the FAA has discriminated against them on the basis of age. Last year, Nichols Kaster Partnered up with Norwood & Atchley and the Donati Law Firm in Memphis, Tennessee, in representing this class of PATCO strikers. For more information on this case click here.
