Man Sues Airline For Being Seated Next To Obese Man

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.

Pecksniff? Down here in Texas we call 'em peckerwoods.

Us Yankee's call 'em Peckerheads.

Sorry, but if you require two seats on an airline, then you should PAY for two seats.

It's that simple.

but I think the vast majority of people would be better behaved in public if only out of shame.

Isn't that the truth for life in general in America these days. Using a 30 day month, a 3 hour flight stuck next to an overweight person is a whopping .4 percent of your time for just a single month. Get over it, life doesn't end.

If this case is in small claims court or requesting the minimal damage then it does not "sound" or "appear" unreasonable. (damage equals a replacement ticket) This would be more significant if he also sued the obese person for tortous interferance in a benificial business relationship.

I agree, this may be an engineered loss. The discomfort liability will be passed on to the obese person.

The legal test is "duty, breach, causation, damage"

Was these a DUTY to this plaintiff passenger?

and

Did the airline BREACH this duty?

and

Did this breach CAUSE an effect?

and

Did this effect cause DAMAGE?

If you can pass this then the judge or jury (depending on particular state or fed law) will determing what the value of damages or actions required to compensate plaintiff for his damage.

I have sat next to fat people on airplanes, in movie theaters and in stadiums, etc. Granted, I am not fond of having somebody elses thighs overflowing into my seat. But this unwanted contact occurs even with normal size people. The seats are simply made too damn small.

Far more annoying to me than having some fat person's thighs rub up against mine are those who drag their screaming and fussing child onto an airplane. I would rather be sandwiched between two fat people on a plane than to have a harried housewife with an out-of-control, spoiled-rotten 5-year-old kid sitting in my row. Or anywhere in the plane for that matter. I hate fussing children with a passion and the irresponsible parents who allow them to carry on so. I've raised two boys of my own and they have never acted out in public. That is because they will get the spanking of their lives if they ever did, and they know it.

Also far more annoying than fat people are those who are constantly getting out of their seats and forcing me to get out of my own seat in order to let them through. It seems that whenever I go to sporting events, there is a certain group of people who do nothing but make constant snack and bathroom runs through the entire game. What the heck did they buy a ticket for? They could have stayed home and watched the game on TV where they could stuff their faces to their heart's content. I would rather be sandwiched between two fat people who stay in their seats than to deal with the constant interruptions of people who feel compelled to leave their seats every 15 minutes.

But counselor, surely a jury would take into account whether the airline knew that the breach existed or not, right?

If he didn't raise an objection to a flight attendent during the flight, while the airline could have corrected the situation, then his concern wasn't so great. Or maybe he was formulating a plan to file suit while he was in-flight. If the crew didn't know he was uncomfortable and all that, how could they correct it?

That's what I would be asking myself if I were on that jury. Would the airline be able to demand a jury trial?

P. S. IMO, the real cause of all this attention to overweight passengers is the scrunching down of seat-space all the airlines have done during the past 20 or 30 years. Reversing that trend would go a long way toward resolving this problem.

Don't know where all these empty flights are flying...I fly cross country on business 1-2 times a month. For the first couple of months after 9/11, there were lots of empty seats. But since then, almost every flight I've been on has been packed. And I agree with the arguement - I've paid for an entire seat, and I ought to get one. If the person next to me cannot fit in 1 seat, then he should buy 2. His girth doesn't give him the right to take away the space I've paid for - doesn't matter if the size is fat or muscle.

Wow, I too am in tears. This is great. I'm writing a paper on the issue and this was fun to hear some people's comments. I think if the airlines charge double to obese passengers then I say if you can fit two skinny-asses in one seat they should only pay for ONE-SEAT! Yeah, let's hear it for the skinny asses! lol. Just kidding, safety issue I'm sure... just a thought.

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