Subject: American Airlines Is Sued For Alleged Biting Incident
Date: Published: 9/3/86 39 lines
Source:  Wall Street Journal.  Copyright Dow Jones & Co. Inc. 

   American Airlines Is Sued
   For Alleged Biting Incident

   CHICAGO -- A 25-year-old woman, in a lawsuit seeking $12
million in damages, alleges that she was bitten by an
American Airlines employee who later tested positive for
acquired immune deficiency syndrome.
   The suit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court here against
American and the employee, charges the airline with negligent
hiring, battery and mental distress.  The plaintiff's name
wasn't disclosed to protect her privacy, said her lawyer,
Enrico J. Mirabelli, a partner of Heldrich, Grombacher,
Mirabelli & Assoc.  The employee also wasn't identified.
   According to the suit, the incident occurred Feb. 10 at
O'Hare International Airport when the woman was arguing with
the employee about whether he should give her a boarding
pass.
   According to her lawyer, she asked for the employee's
name.  When he refused to tell her and walked away, the woman
grabbed his left arm, the lawyer said.  The defendant then bit
her left hand, drawing blood, and kicked her right shin, the
suit says.  She asked that he be tested for AIDS; the test was
positive, according to the suit.
   In Dallas, a spokesman for American, a unit of AMR Corp.,
said the company hasn't seen the suit and couldn't comment on
its merits.  However, he added, the employee involved was only
exposed to AIDS but doesn't have the disease.  The employee
has been transferred to a position in which he doesn't have
contact with the public, the spokesman said.

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