Couple sue airline in seat flap

[N965VJ]

Couple sue airline in seat flap
They allege dispute with US Airways flight attendant involved racial discrimination.
Paul Egan / The Detroit News, December 3, 2008

DETROIT -- A Wayne County couple sued US Airways Tuesday, alleging the husband was falsely arrested and the wife suffered a miscarriage after a dispute with a flight attendant on a trip from Detroit to the U.S. Virgin Islands.

H. Julian Hill and Lisa Hill, who are black, claim in U.S. District Court in Detroit that the dispute involved racial discrimination and resulted from a broken airline seat that would not fit into the upright position.

U.S. Airways spokeswoman Valerie Wunder declined comment: "We don't comment on pending litigation.

H. Julian Hill, who was in the broken seat, told flight attendants he could not move it into the upright position at takeoff as required, and was told not to worry about it, the lawsuit alleges.

But when it was time to land in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, a flight attendant became hostile and yelled, "Dude, you need to move," the suit alleges. The unnamed flight attendant harassed Hill until he moved to another seat, the suit alleges. Hill was reluctant to do so because his pregnant wife was afraid of the landing and needed her husband beside her, the suit alleges.

After moving to a new seat, Hill turned around to speak to his wife, seated three rows behind him, and the flight attendant "slightly tripped" over Hill's foot, the suit alleges.

The flight attendant gave Hill a written complaint notice and "in a loud and menacing voice falsely accused H. Julian Hill of kicking him."

When the flight landed, Hill asked the crew about filing a complaint against the flight attendant, the suit alleges.

At the airport in St. Thomas, police handcuffed and arrested Hill, the suit alleges, adding that he was detained five to six hours and questioned by local police and the FBI, but wasn't charged. Lisa Hill suffered a miscarriage as a result of the stress and humiliation, the suit says.

Linkage to the rest of the article

 

[SS255]

I agree with you, Piney. Without knowing all of the facts, I'm taking US's side on this one. Stay with the devil you know, and all that!

 

[NCFL]

Statistically, 1/3 of all pregnancies end in miscarriage. I ought to know, my wife had three before our son was born.

If this woman was in such fragile shape that she couldn't handle sitting apart from her husband while an airplane was landing, why was she traveling in the first place? She should be sitting at home popping Xanax. This is a complete crock, the suit is without merit and I hope Tempe has the testicular fortitude to say so without caving in and paying them off to shut them up.

The public damage has been done as far as US is concerned - news of the suit has hit the media. At this point, hold firm and deny their request for compensation.

Sad part is, some shyster will find some unscrupulous doctor willing to write a letter saying the miscarriage was caused by stress. "Stress" is such a BS catch-all.

 

[4merresrat]

Silly frivolous law suit. The party suing and the ambulance-chasing attorney should be reprimanded by the judge and the suit tossed out.

Can't we all just get along? :unsure:

 

[legacy-to-LCC]

Silly frivolous law suit. The party suing and the ambulance-chasing attorney should be reprimanded by the judge and the suit tossed out.

Can't we all just get along? :unsure:

the article implies that the same a/c was used: dtw to stx. unless it is a through flight, i am not aware of usair flying non-stop dtw-stx. and, if it was a through-flight, i would think that the f/as on the dtw-phl or clt leg would have caught the seat position violation on the domestic leg.

perhaps, just perhaps, the media got it wrong and the "guilty" airline is nwa?

 

[N965VJ]

<SNIP> perhaps, just perhaps, the media got it wrong and the "guilty" airline is nwa?

Not unless Valerie Wunder left US to work for NW.

Anyway, since when do FAs address customers as “dudeâ€￾?

 

[freedom]

As the us economy continues to deteriorate we will see a rise in lawsuits as more and more people become desperate ... that also applies to your personal lives , so make sure none of you give cause for some out of work , out of money individual to sue you .

 

[leprechaun]

As the us economy continues to deteriorate we will see a rise in lawsuits as more and more people become desperate ... that also applies to your personal lives , so make sure none of you give cause for some out of work , out of money individual to sue you .

Please, enough with the doom and gloom economy thing. You don't work for CNN, you chuck bags for USAirways. Give it a rest.

 

[N965VJ]

I think I’m going to file a class action lawsuit against the news media clowns for talking down the economy, thus causing people to make crazy assumptions.

Oh well, its Friday night happy hour! I’m going to go sit on the warf and drink some vodca.

 

[freedom]

Please, enough with the doom and gloom economy thing. You don't work for CNN, you chuck bags for USAirways. Give it a rest.

lol OK ! i guess i'm just a simple baggage handler and thus cannot understand the blatantly obvious economic indicators ...

what's half a million jobs in November anyways, that's only a few ? and this auto bail out for the big three , heck i don't even understand what the word bail out means .... :huh: ? lowest housing starts since surveys were started , what does that mean ? duhhhhh :unsure: builders confidence report at a nine ? duhhh what does that mean ?.... duhhhh can anyone tell me what deficit spending means ?duhhhh :huh: someone said something about a trillion dollars in the hole for our nation next year ? how much is a trillion , is that two million ? duhhhh FDIC ? is that like some sort of magical blanket that smothers everything in protection ? i heard the FDIC protects everything and that it can never be harmed if your protected by the FDIC .. can i get FDIC auto insurance ? TARP ? is that a cloak or something ? i heard you can buy a TARP if you become a bank holding company , will us airways become a bank holding company and we can all get company issued tarps ? :huh: hey leperhcan fellow , what are forclosures ? i hear that word alot these days ? also , will you be bailing out the other world economies with your pot of gold ? someone told me that you have enough gold in your pot to take care of the 29 states that are facing budget shortfalls next year .... WOOHH thank goodness because otherwise we would have all be screwed!

oh well , what do i know , i throw bags for a living ....

 

[US1YFARE]

As the us economy continues to deteriorate we will see a rise in lawsuits

I sure hope so.

 

[Dog Wonder]

As the us economy continues to deteriorate we will see a rise in lawsuits .

Any word on a rise in birthday suits?

 

[necigrad]

I think I’m going to file a class action lawsuit against the news media clowns for talking down the economy, thus causing people to make crazy assumptions.

I'm gonna file one against Freedom for defamation of character. Too many people in this world believe in guilt by association, and me doing the same job as Freedom means I'm doomed!

 

[US1YFARE]

I'm gonna file one against Freedom for defamation of character.

Bother way, it is deflamation of character...don't you remember.

 

[Travels2mch]

Wonder if the F/A gave his first name? Anyone??