soliloquy

Need help with family affair gone wrong....

I hate to bring personal junk to the internet, but I need some help. I used to be a registered companion for a family member that worked for American Airlines. This past June I found out she was abusing her child, her child reported to me at church, the church called the police, and I ended up having to make a police report (just repeating what her kid told me since I did not witness the abuse myself). The kid told me that she wanted to go see her dad for the summer and that her mom got upset with her (she's a teenager) and began to kick her and choke her and call her a traitor. After all this was reported, DSS got involved. Things got ugly. They still are.

Anyway, this family member had worked for AA until the fall of 2018 when she quit to work somewhere else. So at the time this particular DSS investigation began, she had already not been working for AA for about 7+ months I believe. At any rate, when she was still with AA, she let me use those two "tickets to anywhere" that employees apparently got from Doug Parker for being productive so that my spouse and I could fly to Hawaii. She said she wouldn't use them and she insisted we use them as an anniversary gift. I felt a little uncomfortable taking a gift that big, but she insisted that they'd just go to waste if we didn't use them. So, we did. To show appreciation for what she did, we gave her our living room set (she's a single mom and we knew she needed new furniture) and we went out and purchased another set. So fast forward to now...she hasn't really spoken to me since June except for some pretty nasty emails. However, today, she contacted another family member who called me and said I owe her $4,300.00 for flying to Hawaii using her tickets to anywhere that were offered in 2018 through her AA employment.

Do you all remember those tickets and how they worked?

I was totally stunned. I know she just lost her newest job and she is desperate (and still angry with me), but I did not see this coming. Am I wrong in my understanding that these tickets to anywhere that were given to employees as a gift for productivity did not have a cost to the employee other than maybe the tax liability? I had asked her to let me know that tax liability on the tickets at the beginning of 2019, but she refused because back then she was still saying it was a gift.

I thought that employees weren't permitted to sell these tickets so I'm trying to figure out how she "lost" money on this deal. I know she gave this to us as a gift, but I'm trying to figure out, if she did take this to court, which she is threatening to do, if there are any prohibitions with AA against selling these tickets to anywhere. Could they possibly have charged her that much for these tickets? Can anyone help with that? Is there an employee's manual online somewhere that talks about this?

JonNYC

She can't possibly prevail if she was nutty enough to take this to court, she gave you a gift, end of story.

And as far as AA's policies with regard to this ex-employee, they are completely irrelevant at this juncture.

soliloquy

If AA's policies say you can't sell these "tickets to anywhere," it may be relevant to refute her claim that she has some type of money damages.

JonNYC

It goes without saying they weren't sellable.

soliloquy

Goes without saying isn't really "evidence" if we end up in court. lol

JonNYC

For more information, you might consult the thread you started on the topic back then:
AA Employees and Family Members - Where are you going with your tickets to paradise?

Jaimito Cartero

She can say you owe her a million dollars, it doesn’t make it true.

Did she pay you for the furniture? Can you create a bill for $8000 for them? No, you can’t. A gift is a gift. Tell the other family member that there was never such an agreement, and just nip it in the bud.

Is she still your favorite cousin?

soliloquy

I'm not sure how that thread is responsive to my question. It doesn't cover the issue I'm asking about unless I'm missing something.

soliloquy

She has some mental health issues so I'm trying not to brand her. But, no she's not my favorite at the moment.

Okay, topic dropped.

Jaimito Cartero

She’s trying to garner sympathy from relatives, saying you basically ripped her off. State the facts simply to said relative. Don’t waste time saying she was breaking AA rules.

Were you upgraded to F on the trip? If not, then hard to see each ticket worth more than 5 or 6 hundred.

soliloquy

She told fam she gave us two first class tickets. We flew CLT to DFW to KOA and then OGG to LAX to CLT. DFW to KOA was our only first class segment.

AANYC1981

Wow.....

IADCAflyer

Pretty simple. No proof of a requirement to compensate. Nothing written; no evidence. Heck, even if there was consideration, the living room set is that consideration.

redtop43

I can see this going to small claims court. I can see the "trial" lasting barely long enough to stir your coffee.

The judge will ask if you agreed to give her money at the time of the transfer. If she says no, then he will say "You can't decide later on that you want money." If she says yes then he will ask you if you agreed. You will say no. He will ask if she has any written proof of the agreement. When she says no, he will say "Well it's your word against his and that's not enough. You need some kind of other proof."

If she walks into court with a whole bunch of papers (who knows what???) she will discover that the judge isn't going to look at the 27 8x10 colored glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one was to be used as evidence against you. (For those who've never heard "The Alice's Restaurant Masacree" by Arlo Guthrie, go listen to it.)

RetiredATLATC

If you're concerned about this, consult an attorney, not an internet travel forum.