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CNN Live Saturday

5 Million Passengers Sue JetBlue For Breaking Their Confidentiality Agreement

Aired September 27, 2003 - 14:07   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


JUDY FORTIN, CNN ANCHOR: A group of passengers is suing discount airline JetBlue after it gave personal information to a defense contractor. Jetblue admits it passed on the names, addresses and phone numbers of about five million customers, but it said it did so in the interest of national security.
Let's talk about this with Kendall Coffey, a former federal prosecutor, and frequent contributor to CNN. He joins me live from Miami.

Kendall, do the passengers have a case?

KENDALL COFFEY, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: They sure do, and they are suing under federal, state law, as well as traditional notions of invasion of a right of privacy. And JetBlue has essentially conceded that they goofed. So this is one lawsuit that begins in a sense with a confession from the defendant.

FORTIN: Will it head to court or will it be settled out of court, do you think?

COFFEY: It's almost a certainty with most class actions that it's going to be settled, which means expense, expense for defense fees, ultimately expense to pay for the attorneys fees. And usually, Judy, these kind of cases result in some kind of discount coupons, maybe frequent flier mile bonuses for the passengers and hopefully a few extra bags of peanuts on the flights.

FORTIN: Let's talk about damage control on the part of JetBlue. What are they going to have to do now to repair their good name, and what are they going to have to do to get in good with the passengers again?

COFFEY: Well, the passengers are going to be open-minded. They're off to a good start. The usual basics of this kind of damage control 101 include acknowledge, repent, and self-correct. That means either form a committee, hire a consultant, or both. And they've got the very prestigious independent firm of Deloitte and Touche to come in, straighten it out, so they can tell the world and tell the federal regulators that they're cleaning up their own act and this isn't going to happen again.

FORTIN: Long-term impact then on JetBlue? What do you think?

COFFEY: Modest, but this is going to be expensive. And if the federal agencies that are taking a look at them initiate serious investigations, it could be a lot more serious than it appears to be right now.

FORTIN: It's a tough corporate lesson, but how did the company get involved in this in the first place? What kind of advice were they getting from their own lawyers?

COFFEY: Well, the best of intentions, even patriotic notions. But, Judy, the law is the law. And someone should have been aware of the fact, that, yes, it's great to cooperate with the government, especially in areas of terrorism. But doggone it, don't break the law. And if you need to get a subpoena, tell them to bring you a subpoena before you turn over records.

FORTIN: Well, I think know the answer to this last question, but are we going to see any other airlines giving up passenger information, do you think, in the near future?

COFFEY: The answer is no. And across the board there are other industries that are in the same position of the government seeking voluntary informal cooperation. And I think more often than not, unless somebody tells them that there's going to be a bomb going off in 24 hours, attorneys are going to be telling their clients, before you hand over files, whether it's a boat, whether it's a library, whether it's an airline, make sure that there's some kind of government process, be it a subpoena, be it a search warrant, before you get yourself into a JetBlue kind of mess again.

FORTIN: Kendall Coffey, thanks for your time today. Nice to hear from you.

COFFEY: Thanks, Judy.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com





Confidentiality Agreement>


Aired September 27, 2003 - 14:07   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY FORTIN, CNN ANCHOR: A group of passengers is suing discount airline JetBlue after it gave personal information to a defense contractor. Jetblue admits it passed on the names, addresses and phone numbers of about five million customers, but it said it did so in the interest of national security.
Let's talk about this with Kendall Coffey, a former federal prosecutor, and frequent contributor to CNN. He joins me live from Miami.

Kendall, do the passengers have a case?

KENDALL COFFEY, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: They sure do, and they are suing under federal, state law, as well as traditional notions of invasion of a right of privacy. And JetBlue has essentially conceded that they goofed. So this is one lawsuit that begins in a sense with a confession from the defendant.

FORTIN: Will it head to court or will it be settled out of court, do you think?

COFFEY: It's almost a certainty with most class actions that it's going to be settled, which means expense, expense for defense fees, ultimately expense to pay for the attorneys fees. And usually, Judy, these kind of cases result in some kind of discount coupons, maybe frequent flier mile bonuses for the passengers and hopefully a few extra bags of peanuts on the flights.

FORTIN: Let's talk about damage control on the part of JetBlue. What are they going to have to do now to repair their good name, and what are they going to have to do to get in good with the passengers again?

COFFEY: Well, the passengers are going to be open-minded. They're off to a good start. The usual basics of this kind of damage control 101 include acknowledge, repent, and self-correct. That means either form a committee, hire a consultant, or both. And they've got the very prestigious independent firm of Deloitte and Touche to come in, straighten it out, so they can tell the world and tell the federal regulators that they're cleaning up their own act and this isn't going to happen again.

FORTIN: Long-term impact then on JetBlue? What do you think?

COFFEY: Modest, but this is going to be expensive. And if the federal agencies that are taking a look at them initiate serious investigations, it could be a lot more serious than it appears to be right now.

FORTIN: It's a tough corporate lesson, but how did the company get involved in this in the first place? What kind of advice were they getting from their own lawyers?

COFFEY: Well, the best of intentions, even patriotic notions. But, Judy, the law is the law. And someone should have been aware of the fact, that, yes, it's great to cooperate with the government, especially in areas of terrorism. But doggone it, don't break the law. And if you need to get a subpoena, tell them to bring you a subpoena before you turn over records.

FORTIN: Well, I think know the answer to this last question, but are we going to see any other airlines giving up passenger information, do you think, in the near future?

COFFEY: The answer is no. And across the board there are other industries that are in the same position of the government seeking voluntary informal cooperation. And I think more often than not, unless somebody tells them that there's going to be a bomb going off in 24 hours, attorneys are going to be telling their clients, before you hand over files, whether it's a boat, whether it's a library, whether it's an airline, make sure that there's some kind of government process, be it a subpoena, be it a search warrant, before you get yourself into a JetBlue kind of mess again.

FORTIN: Kendall Coffey, thanks for your time today. Nice to hear from you.

COFFEY: Thanks, Judy.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com





Confidentiality Agreement>