A recent suit filed in
Kitsap County Superior Court alleges a doctor failed to find an
aspiring pilot was color blind after two eye examinations — leading
the pilot to pursue a career in professional
aviation.
But in 2010, the lawsuit says the doctor did find he was color blind, stopping the plaintiff’s piloting career plans in their tracks.
At eye sight exams in 2005 and 2007, the aspiring pilot’s doctor gave him the green light for an Federal Aviation Administration second class license, the lawsuit alleges. But in 2010, the doctor then diagnosed the plaintiff with hereditary color blindness and recommended only a third class license with “night vision and color signal restrictions.”
The plaintiff had “pursued a career in commercial aviation including the substantial expense of aviation flight school,” his lawyer alleges.
“Professional and/or commercial positions for a pilot with night vision and color signal restriction are precluded or substantially limited,” the lawyer wrote. “Had (the doctor) timely and correctly diagnosed (plaintiff’s) color blindness … (he) would not have pursued aviation school and training, to which he’d devoted considerable expense and time.”
The lawsuit was filed in August and the plaintiff is asking for arbitration. He is seeking “economic injury” damages for the costs of pursuing an aviation career after the alleged misdiagnoses in 2005 and 2007.
No response to the suit has yet been filed by the defendants.
