WAY TO GO MESA, and JO Thats why you guys are not respected and hated
Mesa airline inc. the Mainland parent of the Hawaii airline go!, is suing an
Aloha Airlines pilot whom it claims has been active in online criticism of the company.
Mike Uslan, who flies for Aloha Airlines, is one of 11 defendants in a suit filed in U.S. District Court in Phoenix, where Mesa is based. The other 10 are identified only as John Does I-X.
The suit appears aimed at H.E.R.O., an organization whose name stands for "Hawaii's airline employees repelling Ornstein," a reference to Mesa CEO Jonathan Ornstein.
A Web site --
dontflygo.com -- operated by H.E.R.O. has posted editorials against Mesa and Ornstein, which founded go! last year.
Mesa's suit alleges that Uslan and his John Doe co-defendants have "caused injury and damages to Mesa" and "directed defamatory statements" at Mesa and its chief executive. It also accuses them of trademark infringement.
In its lawsuit, Mesa asks the court to enjoin Uslan and the other defendants from using the airline's trade names and service marks and "from making false and defamatory claims or statements about Mesa Airlines." It also asks the court to order Uslan to reveal the identities of the owners and content providers for the
www.donflygo.com Web site. Finally, it asks the court to award punitive damages and attorneys' fees.
The Mesa lawsuit asserts that the Hawaii Web site comes under the jurisdiction of the Arizona court because its content is intended "to harm Mesa Airlines' finances and reputation in the state of Arizona."
This week, Uslan filed in a Honolulu court a motion for a protective order to limit the scope of subpoenas and depositions filed against him.
His lawyers assert in Uslan's filing that "the transparent purpose" of actions by Mesa attorneys "is to intimidate Uslan and others," adding that "Uslan is a resident of the state of Hawaii. Mesa obviously filed this lawsuit in the district court of Arizona to make it more expensive and difficult for him to defend himself."
Reach Howard Dicus at [email protected]