Spirit Airlines Sued After 90-Year-Old Baggage Handler’s Death

Following the death of a longtime Spirit Airlines baggage handler, his widow is suing the airline over his injury. Nazem Amine was 88 years old when he suffered a hernia in 2015 after lifting 500 pieces of luggage in a single shift. Amine died in July at the age of 90 from a heart attack. His wife, Siham Amine, said Spirit was responsible for the downward spiral of his health that ultimately resulted in his death.

Nazem had worked as a handler for Spirit for 16 years when he had a hernia. His 53-year-old wife filed a federal lawsuit in January when her husband was still alive but in a wheelchair, seeking compensation for medical expenses resulting from his hospitalization for a hernia, congestive heart failure and colitis.

The airline, however, said the Michigan Workers Compensation Board had not yet ruled on whether the heart attack was caused by the hernia, and additionally, that the compensation board had already paid the medical bills related to the hernia.

“We got not one apology from workers’ compensation or Spirit Airlines,” his son, Mike Amine, told the Detroit Free Press. “My dad never got to win at this… He never got his day in court… I feel like they did him wrong.”

The family said its patriarch was in great condition until suffering a hernia during his strenuous shift. A former Bronze medal winning Olympic wrestler, Nazem insisted on working well into his old age.

“He would say, ‘I don’t want anyone taking care of me. I want to take care of myself,’” Mike Amine told the Detroit Free Press. “Not only did he work full time, he worked overtime. And he didn’t just meet and greet people. This guy actually moved 500 pieces of luggage — in a day. That’s the kind of dedication he had to work.”

His widow is seeking $721,000 from Spirit Airlines, according to the lawsuit. Half of that would go toward Medicare.

“He was a worker. He was a go-getter. He wanted to bring home a paycheck,” said the Amine’s lawyer, Bryan Schefman. “Any guy who is 88 years old and can lift 500 bags seems to be in pretty good health. He died from secondary complications relating the complete meltdown of his physical status.”