A federal judge has declared a California man who filed dozens of lawsuits against airlines a vexatious litigant after one of his latest complaints accused Scandinavian Airlines of serving him a vegetarian meal instead of chicken and limiting him to a single complimentary drink.
US District Judge Edward Chen said Sergey Firsov’s apparent “business model” was to seek waivers of court filing fees, pursue emotional-distress damages and try to recover the cost of international airline tickets, adding that the serial litigant had “caused needless expense” for airlines and burdened federal courts.
The order stems from Firsov’s lawsuit against Scandinavian Airlines, in which he alleged he was served a vegetarian meal instead of chicken during one flight and that a broken air-conditioning system on another flight made the cabin so dry it injured both him and his dogs.
According to Firsov’s complaint, flight attendants announced that passengers could choose between chicken and vegetarian pasta, but by the time meal service reached about the 40th row, the chicken had run out.
Firsov alleged he and passengers seated farther back were forced to take the vegetarian option after crew members said too few chicken meals had been loaded.
Firsov claimed he later walked to the rear galley and saw flight attendants eating chicken meals. When he asked for one, crew members allegedly refused, saying the meals were reserved for “internal use.”
He also alleged a flight attendant told him the airline had mistakenly loaded too few chicken entrees, while he questioned why unused chicken meals remained in the back of the aircraft.
Chen dismissed the case in January, finding the court lacked personal jurisdiction over part of the dispute and that Firsov failed to allege the physical injury required under the Montreal Convention for his meal-related claim.
But the judge said the lawsuit — one of 27 filed by Firsov against airlines in the last two years — was only one example of a much broader pattern.
“There is no indication that Mr. Firsov is making decisions based on the particulars of any case but rather is taking a scorched earth approach,” Chen wrote in a June 23 ruling declaring the Mountain View, Calif. resident a vexatious litigant.
According to the order, Firsov filed 30 lawsuits in the Northern District of California between March 2025 and June of this year, with all but three targeting at least one airline.
Most were dismissed for reasons including lack of jurisdiction, failure to state a claim, failure to properly serve defendants or failure to pay filing fees.
The court noted Firsov had already been declared a vexatious litigant by Santa Clara Superior Court in 2020.
Earlier in the Scandinavian Airlines case, Chen sanctioned Firsov $722 after finding he filed a motion to strike in bad faith. The airline later sought to hold him in civil contempt after the sanctions award remained unpaid.
The judge also highlighted what he described as frivolous positions Firsov had taken in other airline cases, including alleging Austrian Airlines acted improperly by preventing him from taking his dog into an airplane lavatory, seeking roughly $1,100 for emergency clothing after delayed baggage, and claiming he spent $10,000 on a private jet to make a meeting after a delayed commercial flight.
In another case, Chen noted, Firsov argued an airline wronged him by serving a vegetarian meal because “he is a man and needs to eat meat.”
“Mr. Firsov has caused needless expense to the airlines he has sued and imposed an unnecessary burden on the undersigned and other judges in this District,” the judge wrote.
The judge declined Scandinavian Airlines’ request for a sweeping filing ban, instead narrowly tailoring the order to future lawsuits against airlines.
The Post has sought comment from Firsov and Scandinavian Airlines.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
