Man Sues Airline For Being Seated Next To Obese Man

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[chance33_98]

Man Sues Airline For Being Seated Next To Obese Man
Delta Spokesman Calls Man's Lawsuit Trivial

UPDATED: 12:27 p.m. EDT August 1, 2002

ASHLAND, Ohio -- An Ashland man is suing Delta Airlines because he was seated next to an obese man during a two-hour flight last November.

Philip Shafer said that Delta breached its contract to provide him with a full seat and reasonable comfort. Shafer claims he suffered embarrassment, severe discomfort, mental anguish and severe emotional distress from the flight.

"I think these large people have a responsibility to take control, either to get two seats, or talk to the airline," Shafer said. "The airline has a responsibility to take care of this problem. The last person who should be worried is the innocent passenger."

An attorney for Delta called the suit trivial and said that it is not a legitimate issue. The case is set to go to court in mid-September.

[Black Agnes]

Actually, many airlines will *require* children have their own seats past the age of several months I believe. I know there was a movement to require parents to purchase a seat and baby-seat for *any* child for the same reason that holding an infant in a suddenly stopping car isn't any more good for it than holding one in a suddenly turbulent airplane. So yes, I think each 'person' should have a seat. If some people occupy more than one, they should accomodate their budgets accordingly.

[Steve0113]

you don't actually have to try to win a case, you can get up in court and say "the plaintiff is right, we suck", or something very similar

Are you serious? I've never heard of that.

[The Duke]

Those people who insist upon carrying masses of fat on their bodies should be assigned space in the cargo section of airplanes, so that normal people can fully use the seats for which they have paid.

Wouldn't it be unfortunate if obesity was attributable to some factor other than personal choice, and yet those with this problem had to tolerate sharing a planet with people such as yourself?

[flyervet]

If this is indeed an engineered lawsuit, Delta and the lawyer and plantiff involved are putting themselves at considerable risk to accomplish what is already Delta's stated policy.

[Gunrunner2]

>>As a 6'2" 295 lb Power lifter I don't just fit in any seat,<<

I don't imagine you do.

>>but that doesn't make me an obese fat slob<<

Agreed.

>>that deserves to have to pay for 2 seats because the seats are just to damn small.<<

Sue the airlines, make THEM make bigger seats. In the meanwhile, you are insisting that YOU deserve to take MY seat? I paid my seat and you did not. I see nothing in my contract/ticket with the airline that says I have to share my seat with you.

Those of us that pay for a seat deserve the seat we pay for--no more, no less. You do not have a claim on my seat. . .no matter how big you are.

Like I said earlier, it is the airline and the large passenger that are violating the terms and conditions of the ticket, not the innocent person that sits quetly occupying a single seat they paid for.

[Steve0113]

Here's my criterion: If you have to raise the arm of your seat to comfortably sit in that seat, you should have to buy a second seat.

Now THAT is a workable solution. Have an airline seat bolted to the floor at the ticket counter to offer the "courtesy" of finding out right up front whether they need one seat or two.

[Steve0113]

Who's the comedian with the keywords?

[discostu]

I'd need OPH to provide the specifics but you can pretty much walk into to court and say that there's no legal ground for your case. Or you can just really stink and deliberately put together a bad case, but judges might get pissed if they catch you. It's pretty rare, usually you would just settle out of court, BUT that sets no precedent. So you'd usually only see it if they actualy want a precedent set. It's most likely to happen right after a change of administration (at either the federal or state level), if the new AG doesn't agree with the old AG but there are still cases pending that the old AG was trying to use to set precedent the new AG can throw the case. There were people predicting Ashcroft would do that with a number of 2nd Ammendent cases that were coming up in early 2001, never saw what actually happened.

[Mr. Bird]

The issue isn't intent, or attitude; it is space. The fact that I support the idea of large people purchasing two seats has nothing to do with "how" they got that way. You say you're a power lifter. Great! Can you fit in one seat? No? Then pay for two.

NOW, if the airlines were to accommodate both of us, by putting a seat between us, outstanding. Unfortunately, some flights are packed to the gills. So just as the larger set complains about being singled out for "discrimination", those of us thinner folk (or less-large) wonder why we must endure discomfort to accommodate them?

It's really a distasteful argument, but a legitimate one nonetheless.

[dennisw]

The fat dude should countersue for the mental anguish this suit is causing him.

[BibChr]

Didn't do well in logic, didja, Junior?

Dan

[Publius6961]

Now can the obese man sue for being seated next to a petty, self-righteous, whiney little pecksniff?

Only if the whiney little (normal-sized) pecksniff encroached into his seat and made an otherwise routine trip hell.

You must be of the pachyderm persuasion to fail to identify the victim here...

[Texas Mom]

Actually, sadly, the plane was *completely* full, was the last one for 12 hrs and I had to be back at work for a meeting. I had no choice. I was *miserable*, simply *miserable*. I can't think what would have happened if I'd had a medical condition or god forbid a bad case of the Montezuma's revenge. (sorry for crudity)

Wow! I haven't been on a flight that was completly full in the past year..

[Steve0113]

Okay, I see. I didn't know that an out-of-court settlement doesn't set a precedent, but it makes sense since no ruling occurs. Thanks for the info.

[discostu]

It would be considerable risk, but you have to look at it from the otherside. Since the wide people have been making noise recently it's reasonable to expect that there will be a lawsuit soon on that front. If they lose this one first they (and the rest of the airline industry) is pretty much garaunteed a victory on the wide passenger front because a precedent will have been set. It's not a matter of accomplishing stated policy, it's a matter of defending stated policy in probably future court cases.

Of course there's lots of ways to collude too, that might not involve guilt on the part of the plaintiff or his lawyer. It could be accomplished by simply telling a few of your people that take comlaints to be especially rude to people complaining about being crammed in by someone too big for the seat; thus hoping to get someone so POd they sue. Something that subtle it might even be hard to bust Delta for it.

[Movemout]

Interesting set of reactions on this thread to say the least. Like you, I have had to fly a lot and I think I have seen it all. I believe your story about Skeletor and ANS. I have seen something similar to that before.

Once I sat between a couple of guys going to a pro football training camp to try out. It was miserable. They were nice guys but I could barely breathe. I'm 6'1" and about 200 lbs. I felt like a runt.

The airlines regulate the size of carryons so I don't see why they can't regulate the size of the passengers if they, the airlines, insist on making one size seat fit all. If I pay for a seat then I expect one seat, not 90% of a seat or half a seat. The airlines are the the cause of this problem, not the fat passengers.

[agrace]

ROFLOL! Urban legend or not, that's an AWESOME story. :)