Posted on 02/16/2006 4:43:11 AM PST by billorites
The Exeter woman who lost a racial discrimination lawsuit against Southwest Airlines says she will not appeal because she does not want to be humiliated in public again.
Nadine Thompson, a cosmetics executive, said she has no desire to again be characterized "as a fat, black, foul-mouthed ghetto momma.
"It was the most humiliating thing I've ever gone through in my life," she told the Portsmouth Herald.
Thompson accused Southwest of discriminating against her by singling her out on the flight and requesting she buy a second seat. The airline said its employees made mistakes in the way they attempted to follow a policy of having large passengers buy a second seat, but denied any racial discrimination.
A U.S. District Court jury rejected Thompson's discrimination complaint on Friday.
Afterward, Thompson said she did not have a jury of her peers, because all of the jurors were white.
But juror Lance Hellman of Portsmouth, said race had nothing to do with the verdict.
Hellman said he knew nothing about the case when he was chosen for the jury, and sympathized with Thompson when he first saw her in court.
"Here was this overweight black woman being picked on by the big airline," he said. "It was kind of a David vs. Goliath thing, I thought. And I've always been partial to David."
In 2003, Thompson was asked to leave a Southwest flight in Manchester and talk to airline employees about buying two tickets, according to its "customer of size" policy. There, according to testimony, she became verbally abusive and was escorted out of the airport terminal by sheriff's deputies.
Southwest employees said the only mistake it made was telling Thompson that she needed to pay the extra fare for her outbound flight; since she already had boarded the plane, she wasn't required to do so.
Southwest officials said they never used racist words and were concerned solely with her size.
During the four-day trial, Hellman said it became apparent that Thompson didn't have a case.
"She was trying to make an issue of race and it was really her weight," he said. In deliberations, Hellman said, it quickly became apparent that everyone felt the same way.
He said he was particularly swayed by the testimony of an airline employee who said Thompson called him "a racist (expletive)."
"I could sympathize with her anger. But she lost it," he said.
Hellman said he felt Thompson was implying he was racist when she said there was no one on the jury "to advocate for race."
"Nothing could be further from the truth," he said.
Thompson said she respects that the jurors did the best they could, "but it was not a jury of my peers. There wasn't even an ethnic minority there to advocate for me."
Hellman said he would be glad to meet Thompson and talk with her.
"I am sympathetic for the underdog. And I can understand her not wanting to feel undervalued," he said. "But I think she has some growing to do."
AKA IHOP butt.
Looks like 2 seats might not be enough.
That just about summarizes things.
I've considered inventing an arm rest barrier, with spikes on top...
The only question the jury needed was
If you bought a ticket and had to sit in the middle seat, with her on the aisle, is is right that you would now have to share half of that seat with her left cheek?
Of course, now she has a shot at being a "Biggest Loser"...
" I’m not fat. I’m big-boned "
Whales and elephants are *big-boned*. Lady, you're just fat.
it wasn't her size that tilts the plane, its her color /sarc
She said that???
It sounds like fat ghetto momma tried cashing in on the race card but was out flanked when the jury lacked any similarly race obsessed sympathizers. Maybe now she can cash in by going on Celebrity Fat Club.
And more. She called the same guy a racist M-F. And she whines that it is too embarassing to go to court.
If you take one look at the picture you know race wasn't a factor. That woman was sized like a prize pig.
"First she says she was kicked off the plane because of racism, and now her case was tossed out of court because of racism. Poor lady sees Evil whitey behind every lamppost I bet."
A lot of blacks that i've come across do. Especially in cities. They don't bother to try to improve their lives but would rather just sit around and complain about how whitey has them down. No! They might start in bad situations but what really has them down is themselves. Nobody makes you drop out of school, have a kid at a young age, or turn to dope and street gangs. I'm like Cosby. Black people need to take responsability for their own lives.
"(2) she said there was no one on the jury "to advocate for race. ... but it was not a jury of my peers. There wasn't even an ethnic minority there to advocate for me."
"
So it is the duty of a minority juror to avoid the weight of the evidence against this woman and lobby for handouts?
YIKES! Two tons of fun!
I give her credit for starting her own cosmetics company BUT ...
Look at what her previous job was! --->>
Formerly the dean of multicultural affairs at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, today the Trinidadian-born, Toronto-raised Thompson is CEO and president of Warm Spirit. The company has grown from six to 150 nature-based beauty and wellness products, including body butters and homeopathic remedies, available through catalogs ([866] 828-6237), on the Web (warmspirit.com) and from 7,000 direct-sales consultants nationwide.
Doesn't the defense have something to say about the makeup of the jury?
".....She had to buy two seats. And the bad part is, (holding hands wide apart) they were both window seats!"
..."It was the most humiliating thing I've ever gone through in my life,"...
You brought it on yourself, you fat sow.
Yes, she would be mightily embarassed, one would hope, if she had to testify as to what she said. She proved she is a low-life ghetto momma, too. tacky tacky. The libs are teaching their constituents how to WHINE for what they want.
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