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<DIV><FONT size=2><STRONG><FONT size=5>Flier Advocate Accuses Delta of E-Mail
Theft<BR></FONT></STRONG><FONT size=3>Lawsuit Alleges Privacy
Invasion<BR></FONT>
<P><FONT size=-1>By Sholnn Freeman<BR>Washington Post Staff Writer<BR>Wednesday,
October 14, 2009 <BR></FONT></P>
<P></P>
<P>A leading advocate of airline-passenger rights filed a federal lawsuit
Tuesday accusing Delta Air Lines of obtaining hacked e-mails and other files in
an effort to derail her lobbying on behalf of expanded protections for air
travelers. </P>
<P>The suit by Kate Hanni claims that Metron Aviation, a Dulles-based technology
and research firm, used the e-mails to fire an employee who had shared
information with her. </P>
<P>Hanni, founder and executive director of the Coalition for an Airline
Passengers' Bill of Rights, is seeking $1 million in economic damages and $10
million in punitive damages from Delta and Metron. </P>
<P>The Metron employee, researcher Frederick J. Foreman, claims in an affidavit
that a company official showed him hacked and stolen e-mails from Foreman's
private MSN account, Hanni's AOL account and the accounts of two reporters. </P>
<P>Foreman said he was fired Sept. 25. He said a Metron official told him that
Delta had provided the e-mails. </P>
<P>Delta denied the allegations Tuesday. "Obviously the idea that Delta would
hack into someone's e-mail is clearly without merit," a Delta spokesman said,
reading a statement. He declined to comment further because the case is pending.
</P>
<P>In a statement, Metron said any allegations that Metron Aviation behaved
illegally or improperly were "completely baseless and without merit." </P>
<P>Hanni's organization, also known as FlyersRights.org, is the leading
proponent of a federal law that would require airlines to provide food, water,
access to restrooms and medical treatment during lengthy tarmac delays. </P>
<P>In the September meeting, Foreman said he was told that Delta was afraid that
the information he shared with Hanni's group would be used to lend support to
the passenger-rights bill. In an interview Tuesday, Foreman said that at the
time, he was working on a government-sponsored research project that examined
excessive tarmac delays at U.S. airports. But he said he didn't give Hanni much
information. </P>
<P>"All I did was give her a one-page letter telling her some things that I got
off of the Department of Transportation Web site," he said. </P>
<P>Foreman said he was considering a separate lawsuit in the matter and was
seeking an attorney. </P>
<P>"Either Delta actively participated in the hacking of the e-mails or they
obtained e-mails from an illegal source and did not report it," said Jason
Gibson, Hanni's attorney. "We're going to find out once this litigation process
starts." </P>
<P>Hanni, a Napa Valley real estate agent and mother of two, has been a colorful
figure in the Washington aviation world since early 2007, one of the industry's
worst periods of delays and airport congestion. Her advocacy efforts were
sparked by personal experience: In December 2006, she was among a group of
passengers stranded for nine hours aboard a tarmac-bound American Airlines plane
in Austin. </P>
<P>Hanni has since built herself up as the public face of passenger discontent
with poor airline service. Her organization is one of a few that lobby lawmakers
on behalf of air travelers. </P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>