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.

[strela]

What did the woman's race have to do with your story? Sorry pal, this is FreeRepublic. I think you want Stormfront - they're down the hall and in a MUCH seedier neighborhood.

[HELLRAISER II]

Like I said in Post 175, I don't mind paying more for a seat that fits just like I have to pay for 2XL clothes which I do. But it's not a 200% mark up on the clothes it's more like 5% and that's where I have a problem with most of the posts here. Yes I admit that my arms would be in somebody's way in an average seat, but I don't need two seats. It's more like 1 1/4. I don't know what the answer is I'm just putting my 2cents worth in.

[waterstraat]

I hope he wins, I dont want to sit next to them either. Those here that do not agree with this lawsuit should be made to sit next to the fattest passengers forever for the rest of their lives.

[Tony in Hawaii]

Here's what we do: Bring back ocean liners. Yeah, they take four days to cross the Atlantic, but you get to sleep in a bed, eat at a table, and walk around the deck.

Plus, we could have fun by strapping sailcloth to a skinny geek and flying him like a kite off the fantail.

[185JHP]

One pound of muscle is about the size of a baseball. A pound of fat OTOH is about the size of a softball.

[CheneyChick]

How do you know he didn't get his whole seat?

From the text: "Philip Shafer said that Delta breached its contract to provide him with a full seat and reasonable comfort."

Cheers, CC

P.S. Better not call them "stews" (very un-PC) - I think they like to be called flight attendants now.

[Bernard]

How does paying more to the airline make the trip more comfortable for the person sitting next to the large person? Sound like the logic a lawyer or some government agency would use.

PS - I've put on a few pounds recently, and all this talk about making larger people pay more for airline trips is very stressful on me. Who can I sue?

[medved]

I'd rather lash myself to the wing with bungee cords than to be seated in front of the dreaded "seat kickers" (usually 6-11 year old boys). These little hellspawn should have been drowned at birth.

One way of dealing with them as well as kids who don't know how to behave in restaurants etc.:

"You know, maam, I have a brother in law who was raised the way you're raising that child."

"And so, what does he do?"

"He's in a federal penitentury, wishing he'd been raised properly..."

[savedbygrace]

If this case goes to a judge who doesn't toss it out on its face, one issue it will turn on is whether Shafer made the flight attendents aware of his "concerns" in-flight.

If not, he loses.

[SoDak]

I hear ya. I'm 6'5, 305 and the seats are too damned small. I don't spill over, I'm built like a linebacker, but the seats are still torture devices. Still, I've seen some people on planes that should not be flying in one seat. Generally, I feel like if you need to ask for a seat belt extender, you need another seat, that's not discrimination, it's physics. I put on 700,000 miles in an average year, and contrary to all the anectdotal evidence in this thread, it's pretty rare that these huge people fly. At least I rarely see them.

[The Duke]

I suppose half a wit is better than none.

[William Terrell]

Exactly right. Or obnoxious kids. Or poorly-dressed people. Or ugly people, why not ugly people?

Or what if a fat person sits next to a skinny person who just makes him feel bad? Or a religious person? Or an irreligious person? Or someone reading a stupid book?

These people you mention are just visual infringment. A fat person whose width takes up part of the seat of someone else is a physical infringment. The former you can deal with by looking elsewhere; the latter you can't avoid. It's always been against the law to violate a person's physical space or that of his property.

[William Terrell]

You're saying that a fat person has such a right to take up part of another's seat that he can physically assault him if he complains?

[strela]

"He's in a federal penitentury, wishing he'd been raised properly..."

Nice approach. I generally give them 3 kicks for free, then turn around on the fourth one and ask them nicely to stop. If the kicks continue, the "ask nice" becomes a demand directed to both the seat-kicker and the parent(s), loudly and publicly. One more kick or pithy comment of any kind results in a page to a flight attendant, who gets asked to notify the pilot. Since my brother (an airline trainer) knows a lot of the pilots by name, I usually get some sort of response by dropping his name. Usually the presence of the pilot and/or co-pilot stops the behavior, although I can feel the daggers the little monster and/or his parent is staring at my back.

I've had to notify the pilot twice during my flying career; both incidents resulted in me being moved to first class.

[strela]

I suspect I will never be your pal

On that point, I can find nothing to disagree with.

[zandtar]

But its nice to see somebody stand up and fight using the same logic (twisted as it may be) that the parasite class uses.

I don't argue with that concept. My only concern is the airline, which gets caught up between the two sides in the issues. Neither side will confront the other straight on, instead "lets sue the airline", which is already probably having money problems.

[Utopia]

Hey, I sat next next to a crying baby all the way from SF to Sydney Auz (17 hours) -- what about me?

This lawsuit stuff is getting out of hand. Next we'll be suing for God for disappointing us.

[Recluse]

Are you paying for a seat or are you paying for a ride?

If you expect comfort you fly first class.