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Man Sues TSA for Making Him Miss His Flight

Hooman Nikizad wants $500 and change for long lines at Minneapolis airport
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 16, 2016 9:19 AM CDT
Man Sues TSA for Making Him Miss His Flight
Passengers wait in line to go through a new security checkpoint at Terminal 1 of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Feb. 26, 2016.   (Leila Navidi/Star Tribune via AP)

An hour-and-a-half wait on a TSA line in March not only gave a Minneapolis man agita—he says it caused him to miss his flight, and now he's suing the agency and the operator of the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, the Star Tribune reports. "I had to buy a ticket with another airline to be able to make my destination and meet my obligations," Hooman Nikizad says in his claim for $506.85, filed last week, about the March 19 incident that he says had him languishing on the regular airport security line for 90 minutes as a limited TSA staff struggled to move people using only one body scanner. Nikizad missed his flight to Los Angeles, even though he says he arrived at the airport the recommended two hours before takeoff, the New York Daily News reports.

Nikizad was further insulted by the delay considering TSA chief Peter Neffenger had just visited the airport eight days earlier. "We're hitting this very hard," Neffenger said of complaints about the airport's recent combining of security checkpoints, resulting in delays, per KSTP. "It is one of my biggest concerns right now." After he met with state leaders about the problem and certain procedures were modified, Neffenger noted: "I think you're already seeing improvements right now here in Minneapolis." Nikizad, who's representing himself in the case, obviously didn't agree. The money he's seeking in his claim is for the cost of the ticket, ground transportation costs, and the $75 it cost him to file his court claim. "I have never encountered anything similar," a TSA rep said about his suit. (Waiting is an ongoing issue across the nation.)

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