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Woman Sues Airline For Humiliation Over Her Weight
On 08/31/2004 10:58 PM Dennis found Nemo in a Sushi Bar and exclaimed:
Woman Sues Airline For Humiliation Over Her Weight POSTED: 3:10 pm PDT August 30, 2004 SPOKANE, Wash. -- An Eastern Washington woman has sued Southwest Airlines, saying company employees humiliated her in front of other airplane passengers by suggesting she was too fat to fit in a single seat. Trina Blake, 26, said a gate agent questioned her extensively about her weight while she was boarding a plane from Orlando, Fla., to Seattle in May 2003, then told flight attendants to make sure Blake did not take up more than one seat. "I was told that if I even lifted the armrest, I'd be charged for a second ticket at the next airport," Blake told The Spokesman-Review newspaper. A lawyer for Southwest says the airline denies it discriminated against Blake or harassed her. Linda Rutherford, a spokeswoman for the Dallas-based airline, said Southwest's policy requiring second tickets for large people is meant to ensure passenger safety and comfort -- both for the heavy passengers and those nearby. Blake, who lives in the north Spokane suburb of Chattaroy, said she's flown on Southwest and other airlines numerous times before and never had been asked to consider buying an extra seat. "I'm a bigger girl but I'm not that big," she told The Associated Press on Saturday. At 5-foot-7, she wears size 22 pants and considers herself overweight but not obese, she said. She said she would not have considered the suggestion discrimination if Southwest had been more discreet and polite in asking her to consider a second seat. In her view, the treatment she received was abusive and insulting. Her lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Spokane in June. Her attorney, Russell Van Camp, said he plans to seek unspecified monetary damages for reckless infliction of emotional distress and harassment. Blake said she'd like to receive a formal apology from the airline. She wrote a letter after the incident and received two $50 Southwest vouchers she has not yet used. She said a letter the airline sent did not include an apology. "Even if they offered me free tickets for the rest of my life, it would do me no good," she said. "I'm not able to fly any more. The idea of flying again gives me too much anxiety." Rutherford said the airline does not track the frequency of its requests for second seats, but said it happens "very rarely." "More often it's the case that some passengers pre-order two seats before coming to the airport," she said. And in cases where passengers are asked to buy second tickets, the fares are refunded if the plane leaves with any unfilled seats, she said. Southwest is working harder to make sure employees are consistent in asking passengers to consider two seats, so that passengers like Blake don't go across the country and then encounter a request on a return trip. "This is a very sensitive issue and we handle it with the utmost discretion," she added. In 2000, a California court ruled that Southwest did not violate a passenger's civil rights by requesting a second fare when deemed necessary. A brother and sister from New Mexico sued Southwest Airlines in June over the same policy. Andrea Kysar of White Rock and Martin McLaughlin of Espanola, who are described in the lawsuit as "morbidly obese," said they were told in front of other passengers that they had to buy extra tickets because their weight would cause "comfort and safety" problems for others. Watch the video: http://www.kxly.com/common/getStory.asp?id=39073 When I used to travel with my guitar (a collector's edition Gibson 12-string) I was charged for a second seat, even when there was room in the overhead compartment. Parents with babies are charged for a seat even when the baby is held for the majority of the flight. Likewise, people who are wider than the width of the airplane seat, or who are so tall they need to stretch out diagonally across several seats should have to pay extra. I'm single and sometimes vacation at AI or on cruise ships that way. When I get socked for the "single supplement" I don't like it. But if I want to use that particular transport / resort -- them's the rules. I pay the supplement or I make other vacation plans. -- ________ To email me, Edit "xt" from my email address. Brian M. Kochera "Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once!" View My Web Page: http://home.earthlink.net/~brian1951 |
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"127.0.0.1" wrote in message ... On Wed, 01 Sep 2004 05:52:27 GMT, Brian K wrote: Parents with babies are charged for a seat even when the baby is held for the majority of the flight. no they're not. on most airlines babies under 2 carried in the adults lap are not charged a fare On international flights BBs under 2 pay 10% but NO seats, after that they pay (or at least the parents pay!) 50% and get a seat; however I have seem children of 3 spending the whole flight on their mother's knees... who did not get a refund :-) retired/uk |
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"127.0.0.1" wrote in message ... On Wed, 01 Sep 2004 05:52:27 GMT, Brian K wrote: Parents with babies are charged for a seat even when the baby is held for the majority of the flight. no they're not. on most airlines babies under 2 carried in the adults lap are not charged a fare On international flights BBs under 2 pay 10% but NO seats, after that they pay (or at least the parents pay!) 50% and get a seat; however I have seem children of 3 spending the whole flight on their mother's knees... who did not get a refund :-) retired/uk |
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