Sarena Kustic

Patrick Kearns (Partner-San Diego, CA) and Sarena Kustic (Associate-San Diego, CA) secured dismissal of multiple discrimination and negligence claims brought against Wilson Elser’s client, a major national air carrier. The original complaint, brought by five separate plaintiffs, contained seven causes of action under various federal antidiscrimination laws and state negligence statutes, arising from an incident that occurred onboard a commercial aircraft. Patrick and Sarena successfully moved to dismiss the first, second and third amended complaints, and each time the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California allowed the plaintiffs to continue to amend their complaint. After filing the fourth consecutive motion to dismiss, the court ultimately adopted the defense position in full and dismissed all claims brought by each of the five plaintiffs with prejudice and entered Judgment in favor of the client, ending a 10-month battle. This was a rare win at the pleadings stage in a complex case.