Courtroom Confidential: The $100,000 Speeding Ticket

There’s more than one reason to watch football on TV. Just ask Michael Lasseter, the fan whose Nov. 16 dash through Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport–reportedly to retrieve a video camera and still catch his flight to make a game–caused the airport to be shut down for three hours. Lasseter’s sprint into a secured area has already earned him a criminal charge of disorderly conduct. Now it looks as if the civil courts will get a piece of the scurrying banker too. AirTran Airways, which says it lost $1 million when air traffic across the East was disrupted, is suing Lasseter for $100,000. Delta Airlines, which has not followed suit–yet–claims to have lost up to $8 million. Lasseter, whose attorney calls AirTran’s suit “irresponsible,” says he was only dashing to the gate to retrieve his six-year-old son, whom he had left with a relative. Next time maybe he’ll just drive.

–By Amy Bonesteel/Atlanta