UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS 

FORT WORTH DIVISION 

DAVID SAMBRANO ET AL.,

Plaintiffs, 

v. No. 4:21-cv-1074-P

UNITED AIRLINES, INC.,

Defendant.

TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER 

Before the Court is Plaintiffs’ Motion for Temporary Restraining 

Order, filed September 22, 2021. ECF No. 5. The Court set the Motion 

for a hearing on September 24, 2021. ECF No. 10. At the hearing, the 

parties reached an agreement that obviated the need for the Court to 

then rule on the Motion. See ECF No. 28. The Court thus deferred ruling 

on the Motion at that time. See id. 

The Court also set Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction for a 

hearing on October 8, 2021. Id. The day before that hearing, however, 

United filed a Partial Motion to Dismiss, alleging the Court lacked 

personal jurisdiction over claims raised by several Plaintiffs against 

United. See ECF No. 47. To permit Plaintiffs reasonable time to respond 

to United’s jurisdictional challenge, the Court set an expedited briefing 

scheduling and reset the evidentiary hearing on Plaintiffs’ Motion for 

Preliminary Injunction to October 13, 2021. ECF No. 49.

The Court now concludes it is necessary to issue this Temporary 

Restraining Order to avoid risking irreparable injury and to maintain 

the status quo in this case pending the Court’s hearing and resolution of 

Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction. ECF No. 5. Specifically, 

the parties stipulated on September 24, 2021, that United would 

temporarily refrain from placing exempted employees on leave due to 

their lack of compliance with United’s vaccine mandate. Absent entry of 

this Temporary Restraining Order, the parties’ stipulation will expire 

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before the Court can rule on whether a preliminary injunction is 

warranted. If the parties’ stipulation were to expire without temporary 

injunctive relief in place, nothing would prevent hundreds of workers 

from ostensibly either: (1) being compelled to take a vaccination in 

violation of their religious beliefs or medical restrictions, or (2) being 

placed on indefinite unpaid leave by United. To be sure, the Court is not 

currently ruling on the merits of the parties’ arguments on these points. 

Rather, the Court seeks simply to avoid the risk of irreparable harm to 

the parties and to maintain the status quo while the Court holds an 

evidentiary hearing on the Motion for Preliminary Injunction and issues 

an Order on the same.

The Court thus concludes that Plaintiffs’ Motion for Temporary

Restraining Order (ECF No. 5) is GRANTED in part. 

It is, therefore, ORDERED that, for the duration of this Temporary 

Restraining Order, United Airlines, Inc. is TEMPORARILY 

RESTRAINED and ENJOINED from placing any employee on unpaid 

leave if that employee was granted either a religious or medical 

exemption from United Airlines, Inc.’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. 

It is further ORDERED that United Airlines, Inc. is 

TEMPORARILY RESTRAINED and ENJOINED from denying any 

requests for religious or medical accommodations from United Airlines, 

Inc.’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate due to timeliness (i.e., because the 

requests were submitted after the August 31, 2021 deadline). 

This Temporary Restraining Order will expire on October 26, 2021. 

Plaintiffs’ bond for this Temporary Restraining Order is fixed at the 

amount of $5,000.00. The Court will hold an evidentiary hearing on the 

Motion for Preliminary Injunction on October 13, 2021 at 9:30 a.m. 

SO ORDERED on this 12th day of October, 2021 at 4:15 p.m. 

Mark T. Pittman 

UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 

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