Posted on 02/08/2006 4:55:46 AM PST by billorites
Concord – An African-American woman claims Southwest Airlines unfairly subjected her to its policy requiring large passengers to buy two seats because of her race, a lawyer said yesterday at the start of her federal trial against the airline.
Nadine Thompson of Exeter, president of a cosmetics company, sued Southwest in federal court for discrimination in 2004, saying the company doesn’t uniformly enforce its policy requiring obese passengers to buy two seats.
Thompson, who had flown on Southwest frequently, was on her way to a business conference in Chicago in June 2003 when she boarded her flight at Manchester Airport. Not long after she took a seat in the back of the plane, put the arm rest down and buckled her seat belt, an employee she saw at the check-in counter asked her to get off, Thompson’s lawyer, Neil Osborne, said in opening statements.
Nadine Thompson, president, CEO and co-founder of Warm Spirit Inc. beauty and wellness company in Exeter, is suing Southwest Airlines. (DAVID LANE) She was told at the plane’s loading bridge she needed to buy a second seat for “her comfort and safety,” Osborne said, even though no one was sitting next to her. At the time, the 5-foot-8-inch Thompson weighed between 300 and 330 pounds, according to court records.
When Thompson asked for an explanation, she didn’t get one. “It was never made clear to her that she was too big to fit in her seat,” Osborne told the six-person jury.
She refused to leave and decided to return to her seat. An employee told her that if she left, Southwest would give her a refund, Osborne said. She declined, but she became increasingly agitated and decided to leave — only to be met outside the plane by a few Southwest employees and two Rockingham County Sheriff’s deputies. At that point, she started yelling at the group, at times using profanity.
“Did you ask me to purchase another ticket because I’m too fat to sit in the seat? Did you ask me to purchase another ticket because I’m a black woman?” Thompson said, according to court records.
Thompson, who got a refund, said she was humiliated and suffered emotional distress. “Southwest just asked me to get off the plane either because I’m too fat or too black or just a woman,” she said to people as she was being led to the ticket counter, according to court records.
Thompson is not challenging the passenger seat policy itself, Osborne said.
“This is not a case about weight discrimination,” he said. “This suit is about the inappropriate application of a policy in a discriminatory manner.”
Garry Lane, a Southwest lawyer, said the airline’s “customer of size” policy, introduced in 2002 in response to “squished customer” complaints and safety concerns about evacuations, wasn’t written clearly at the time. Employees made some mistakes in explaining it, but did not act out of racial bias, he said.
The policy specifically didn’t require Thompson to buy a second seat after she was allowed to board, but employees mistakenly had told her that she had to, Lane said.
“It has to be handled discreetly,” Lane said of the passenger-seat issue. “It’s part of the company’s policy.”
The employees who spoke to Thompson made sure the loading bridge was clear of other customers before they asked her to come out, he said. Also, they had noticed her when she boarded the plane, but found it difficult to judge if she needed to buy another seat without seeing her sit down, he said.
The policy states that a customer of size is someone who can’t sit in a seat without having the armrest raised and is sitting on part of the seat next to him. Lane said the Southwest employees will testify that they saw the armrest up most of the time and that Thompson was sitting on part of the adjacent seat.
Lane said none of the workers ever shouted at Thompson, used profanity or touched her. The deputies, who handle security at the airport, did not handcuff her and helped her make flight arrangements to Chicago via another airline, he said.
Thompson was expected to testify today.
So fat is a race, now? Who knew?
The only country in the world where the rich are thin and the poor are fat . . . .
"Nadine really only weighs 125 pounds. It's that inner child that's the problem."
Do not eat the children!
I've found that if you watch the sales you can do OK. Carbs may be cheaper but if I find that if I eat them all the time, I get so hungry I could eat the wallpaper off the wall. I have a much easier time controlling my appitite when I eat veggies and some fruits. So I think in the long run, I eat less in addition to eating better. And besides, it's cheaper to eat well than to pay for all the medicine you need to take care of all the health problems from being overweight; plus you save on clothes, too.
What would you have done had there been an emergency requiring the plane be evacuated?
I have been in this tight situation before, seated next to a large person. Usually, they try to raise the armrest so they can lap over into my seat. I wont let this happen - I paid for my entire seat, including half the armrest.
As for the airlines - they get a minimum of my travel business. It is a cramped, miserable way to travel, only made worse by the recent security hassles. I call coach class the cattle car.
"Actually some black and brown skinned people have a propensity to obesity."
Yes, it is called the kool aid gene. ;-)
"Get in my belly."
Black is fat? Who knew?
Sounds like an easy defense to me:
"Extremely obese" does not equal "black."
At least in the past it hasn't. Ya never know what attorneys can come up with however.
5'8"/330? What a slob!
No 1st class on SWA.
I think part of the problem with "fatty seats" not only establishes a de-facto 1st class, it also "rewards" large people unfairly.
Also, they would take up precious room. You might recall that AA had extra legroom in the fron 8 rows for a few years, then got rid of it since it didn't make fiscal sense.
I would also force her to fit into a single seat revealing that she could do that w/o spilling over into the seats of those next to her.
I've seen an episode of Southwest's Airline where they ask the customer to buy a second seat. The fat customer was a white woman who got mad, cursed, screamed, generally caused a scene and then took the refund and stormed off.
I have to say, Southwest puts themselves on the line with that reality show but their employees always act professionally. They should have an announcement or state the policy to all ticket purchases before it is paid for.
You win, I fold.
FWIW, the website for her company has pictures of all their 'consultants', but no snapshots of the CEO.
I don't get this. A head of cabbage or lettuce costs much less than a bag of pretzels. Veggies per pound are cheaper per pound than junk food. They last longer because they fill you up longer and actually provide sustenance rather than a carb high . . . .
I cook real meals for my family almost every night and I can tell you our grocery bill is not that high. It's when we have parties or splurge a little on snacks that the bill goes over the top.
Home made meals are almost a given in weight loss. You know exactly what's in a meal and can avoid the fatty pitfalls with a little diligence. I don't think people truly understand the value of excellent food - it doesn't have to be expensive and it's easy to prepare (but not necessarily quick).
Now her name goes on the Do Not Fly List. She won't have to worry about being called back from her seat anymore.
By simple observation, there may be a correlation.
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