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Obese Flyer Sues Southwest



 
 
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Old September 11th, 2004, 11:20 PM
Tag Diner
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Default Obese Flyer Sues Southwest

Logan Mcwilliams wrote:

August 25, 2004

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP)--A cosmetics company CEO has sued Southwest Airlines
(LUV), alleging that she was unfairly subjected to its policy of requiring
large passengers to buy two seats because she is black.

Nadine Thompson, president, CEO and co-founder of Warm Spirit Inc. beauty
and wellness company in Exeter, sued the airline in federal court in
Concord last week, saying the company does not uniformly enforce its policy
requiring obese passengers to buy two seats.

The lawsuit said "a disproportionate number of women and persons of color
are subjects of Southwest's policy requiring a passenger to purchase a
second ticket.

"But for the plaintiff being a large African-American woman, she would not
have been subjected to Southwest's policy of requiring a passenger to
purchase a second ticket."

The lawsuit said, "Similarly sized white male passengers are not subjected
to Southwest's policy requiring a passenger to purchase a second ticket."

Southwest Airlines disagrees with Thompson.

"I know that is not the case at all. We do not tolerate any discrimination
in any shape, form or fashion," said Southwest spokesman Ed Stewart.

"Being a black man myself I can totally speak from experience," Stewart
said. "We do not discriminate against black people. That's been my
experience for the 14 years I've been here."

Thompson said she had booked the flight to a conference in Chicago out of
Manchester Airport. She was relaxing in her seat on July 9, 2003, with the
seat belt buckled and the armrest down, when a Southwest employee
approached her and told her she would have to buy a second ticket or leave
the aircraft.

She said the man kept repeating it was "for her comfort and safety and for
the safety of the people around her."

Southwest had never before required her to buy two tickets, she said. She
told the Southwest employee that no one was sitting next to her, so she
couldn't be encroaching on anyone else's seat.

Thompson said she had been a frequent flier on Southwest, flying at least
three or four times a month as CEO of Warm Spirit Inc.

She decided to leave the plane. When she left, she was met on the jetway by
three Southwest employees and two Rockingham County sheriff's deputies. She
said she was deeply humiliated. "I about died."

She said she started to cry, but the deputies were very kind and helped her
book a new, single-seat flight on United.

"They're feeling horrible," she said of the deputies. "One of them said,
'You're no bigger than my wife. I can't believe this could happen to my
wife."'


This is off topic for MISC.CONSUMERS. Please trim headers.
 




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