Passenger sues airline after being told she was too FAT to fly and would have to buy a SECOND seat

[Jazzy]

The woman at the centre of a 'too fat to fly' controversy has announced that she is suing Southwest Airlines, which refused to allow her on a flight in April 2011.

New Orleans resident Kenlie Tiggeman is taking on the airlines controversial 'Customers of Size' policy which requires passengers to buy a second seat if they can't fit between the 17-inch wide armrests.



In her quest to seek an injunction against the Dallas-headquartered carrier, Ms Tiggeman alleges that Southwest ignored her 'constitutional rights' and demonstrates 'discriminatory actions towards obese customers'.



Tiggeman rose to national prominence last year when a Southwest Airlines employee declared that she was 'too fat to fly' and asked her to buy a second seat.



The political strategist, and her mother Joan Charpentier, were on a stop-over in Dallas when they were singled out by an official in front of some 100 other passengers because of their size.



'The gate agent came up to me and he asked me how much I weighed, what size clothes I wore,' said Tiggeman to ABC News.



'He said that I was too fat to fly, that I would need an additional seat and he was really sort of crass about the whole thing.'



At the time Tiggeman said she weighed between 240 and 300 pounds.



Responding to the impending law-suit, a spokesman for Southwest Airlines offered some advice.



'The best case scenario is for the customer to notify us of any special needs ahead of time,' said Brandy King.



'If providing the additional seat does not result in our having to deny another customer boarding, we will refund the ticket to the customer at no charge, which happens more than 90 percent of the time.'



While Tiggeman's crusade continues many passengers feel that they are being attacked by airlines.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-told-fat-fly-sues-airline.html#ixzz1tuIPYbJK



Question: Do you think that Southwest ignored her 'constitutional rights' and demonstrated 'discriminatory actions' towards her?

 

[Sinon]

She is too fat. That is a fact. She cannot fit in one seat, therefore it is acceptable to either refuse her or to request she purchase an additional seat in order to fit. Just from that picture it's easy to tell she is clinically obese. Though the reason is unknown, it isn't discriminatory to do what the airline did.



To quote Southwest Airlines' COS (Customer of Size) policy,

We've followed this policy for 31 of our 40 years of operation. We became more vigilant regarding the additional purchase when we began seeing an increase in the number of valid complaints from Passengers who traveled without full access to their seat because a large Customer infringed on their adjacent seating space.

And from their FAQ regarding the legality of the policy,

Doesn't your policy violate the Americans with Disabilities Act or the Air Carrier Access Act?

Interstate airline travel is specifically excluded from the Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by Section 12141(2). Airline travel is instead covered by the Air Carrier Access Act, 49 U.S.C. 1374© and the regulations implementing the Act issued by the Department of Transportation as 14 CFR part 382, et seq. The Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) preceded the ADA, and Congress excluded air carriers and other air transportation services from the scope of ADA. As regulated under 14 CFR §382.87, airlines are not required to furnish more than one seat per ticket.

Forgive the pun, but she doesn't have a leg to stand on.

 

[Evil Eye]

Question: Do you think that Southwest ignored her 'constitutional rights' and demonstrated 'discriminatory actions' towards her?

As a private company I believe they are well within their right to refuse customers or make them get extra seats.

 

[Jazzy]

Love how everyone is so damn sue happy. She's overweight and that's her fault not the airline. She'd sue too if they let her sit in one seat and she got stuck and couldn't get out!

 

[Katatonia]

SUING IS FUN LET'S DO IT AGAIN SOMETIME



Greedy asses

 

[Sinon]

Speaking of suing, my co-worker fell off a bus a few weeks ago. She's currently attempting to sue to bus company for having dangerous vehicles. Yet she openly admitted to most of us that she wasn't paying attention as she was going down the steps.



Fuck people.

 

[Katatonia]

Speaking of suing, my co-worker fell off a bus a few weeks ago. She's currently attempting to sue to bus company for having dangerous vehicles. Yet she openly admitted to most of us that she wasn't paying attention as she was going down the steps.



Fuck people.

People just suck. Frivolous lawsuits are everywhere just because they know you can at least try to get money that you didn't deserve in the first place.

 

[Jazzy]

Speaking of suing, my co-worker fell off a bus a few weeks ago. She's currently attempting to sue to bus company for having dangerous vehicles. Yet she openly admitted to most of us that she wasn't paying attention as she was going down the steps.

She's going to be laughed out of court unless she can PROVE the steps are dangerous on that particular bus.

 

[DrLeftover]

Given the cost of defending against the lawsuit, SW may pay her some 'shut up money' and then stick everybody else that can fit in the seat for a few more dollars to cover it.

 

[Jazzy]

The airlines did nothing wrong in telling her fat arse she needed to buy an extra seat. It's been their policy for 31 years and I doubt they are going to give in now. I agree with Smooth that this woman is much heavier than 240/300lbs from the looks of her in that picture. She's in denial and she will get denied from SW as well. She should spend all this effort in loosing some weight!

 

[Flurry]

Now I could see why she would have an issue if the guy was being possibly rude about the whole thing and not bothering to keep the conversation private between the two of em.



And besides... Didn't we go through this before with Kevin Smith?