Posted on 10/06/2005 1:47:52 PM PDT by crazyhorse691
RENO, Nev. (AP) -- A woman was booted off a Southwest Airlines flight for wearing a T-shirt that bore an expletive and images of President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Lorrie Heasley of Woodland, Wash., said she plans to press a civil-rights complaint against the airline over Tuesday's action at Reno-Tahoe International Airport, halfway through Heasley's scheduled trip from Los Angeles to Portland, Ore.
"I have cousins in Iraq and other relatives going to war," Heasley told the Reno Gazette-Journal. "Here we are trying to free another country and I have to get off an airplane ... over a T-shirt. That's not freedom."
Southwest Airlines spokeswoman Marilee McInnis said several passengers complained about the shirt.
Heasley, a 32-year-old lumber saleswoman, said passengers began complaining after she and her husband, Ron, moved to the front of the cabin in Reno.
She agreed to cover the words with a sweatshirt, but when the sweatshirt slipped while she was trying to sleep, she was ordered to wear her T-shirt inside-out or leave.
She and her husband left. They arrived home in a rental car Wednesday afternoon.
McInnis said Southwest rules allow the airline to deny boarding to any passenger whose clothing is "lewd, obscene or patently offensive."
But Allen Lichtenstein, lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union in Las Vegas, said it "might be problematic" that the airline "changed rules in the middle of a flight."
Heasley said she has been in touch with ACLU lawyers in Seattle, and wants Southwest to reimburse her for the last leg of the trip.
How is this for a standard? A business asked a customer to get off of its property and they should have the right to refuse service to those it deems to be bad for business. They should give her money back and not allow her to fly in the future.
Respect for others must increase along with the expectation of tolerance.
LOL!!!
"I'd like to know the name of the lumber firm she works for."
BMC West
Vancouver, WA
Contractor Sales - Lorrie Heasley
All of us at BMC Millwork recognize your importance as a customer, and understand that our business is "people serving people".
We invite you to give us the opportunity to supply your next project!
http://tinyurl.com/992n3
My dad flew on the 747 back when the -200 had an upstairs piano lounge on PanAm. Compared to the best experience I ever had, where I was given a Wolfgang Puck Pizza and drinkable Cabernet (instead of that Sutter crap) when I flew first class on United not too long ago.
Well, one morning I got on the train and there was this Korean fellow singing hymns. Ordinarily people ride Metro "silently" ~ but, this guy wasn't doing anything, but his hymns got grimmer and grimmer ~ and his voice became more intense.
Finally, some of us started talking about what we could do to "take him out" in case he did something ~ and what would we consider a "clue", like maybe if he started singing "Nearer My God To Thee".
Fortunately for him he quit singing and got off the train! We applauded him as he left.
Freedom of speech/press, etc only applies to Congress. Congress cannot make any law abridging freedom of speech...
She is in private property when she wore her tshirt. This is a property rights case.
"How is this for a standard? A business asked a customer to get off of its property? They should give her money back and not allow her to fly in the future."
Well they should have standing rules about clothing - no private areas exposed, no profanity and no adult pictures or drawings - then she would have forfeited her right to any refund if she refused to change shirts.
But if they don't a standard policy then they will probably need to refund her money.
Well, my uncle's very butch sister was married for ten years until she "came out."
The only free speech the Founders intended to be protected was political speech. Society then would have never tolerated legal pornography or this kind of public profanity. But that aside, Southwest is a private company. They don't have to serve you if they do not want to (outside of the American's with Disabilities Act and discrimination based on race, creed, color yada yada.)
Refund her money and tell her she will not be permitted to fly Southwest again. Case closed.
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I don't like the shirt, but this is a slippery slope that will be a losing argument for conservatives.
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If the government tried to keep her from wearing the shirt, you'd be right. This, however, is a private company that has every right to enforce its own rules of conduct for clients. They certainly would not let me wear a tee-shirt with an image of Bill and Hitlery screwing either. Good for them.
It's interesting that the Left through Political Correctness want to sensor everybody else's speach, but yet want to be free to offend anybody and everybody with their own speach.
It's interesting that the Left through Political Correctness want to sensor everybody else's speach, but yet want to be free to offend anybody and everybody with their own speach.
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