Public Policy and the U.S. Supreme Court
Her most challenging journey, perhaps was the one that took her through the judicial and legal system for five years (between 1995-2000). Consistent with her determination for social justice, she transformed a traumatic, personal episode involving her family into a public policy issue to the benefit of airline travelers throughout the nation. In the precedent setting case, that was briefed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, Ms. Gee tackled the issue of civil rights while traveling on an aircraft. In Gee vs. Southwest Airlines, involving hate crimes on air crafts, she successfully reinstated air travelers' right to sue airlines and changed the way airlines handled on-board conflicts; particularly as they pertained to ethnic minorities. She continues to work on getting the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended in 1991, to cover airline travel and to educate the public that your "civil rights" are left behind on the ground once a plane takes to the sky.
