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The Muslim woman who was recently forced off of a Southwest Airlines flight departing from San Diego has decided to sue Southwest, according to Washingtonpost.com.
Back in March before her plane had taken off from San Diego Irum Abbassi was on her cellphone with a Verizon representative when she notified the representative that she had to go. Unfortunately, the trigger happy stewardess instead heard “It’s a go.” Accordingly, the stewardess abruptly had Abbassi removed from the flight.
After the Muslim woman was removed from the flight TSA agents discovered that she was not a risk, yet the captain would not allow her to return on board the flight because the other passengers had now become uncomfortable with her presence on the plane.
Consequently, Abbassi has now filed a discrimination suit against Southwest.
Whats more, is Abbassi is asking for punitive damages because she alleges that Southwest personnel engaged in discrimination based or race, religion, color, ethnicity, alienage, ancestry, and/or national origin, breach of contract, negligence, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Likelihood of Success
Anytime a plaintiff asks for punitive damages that should be enough to scare even a huge airline such as Southwest. Although it is not easy to obtain punitive damages, here Abbassi seems as if she may have a pretty good chance at obtaining the relief that she requests because this seems to be more than just an ordinary negligence case.
During the March encounter, the stewardess blindly construed 1 sentence by the Muslim woman, who was dressed in traditional Muslim attire, to present a significant enough threat to kick her off of the plane. Additionally, the airline had a chance to rectify the stewardess’ blunder when TSA determined that Abbassi was not a threat, but failed to let her back on the plane.
In addition, Southwest has recently kicked passengers off its flights in a vast array of questionable circumstances. These instances will only aid in Abbassi’s claim because it demonstrates a pervasive pattern of discrimination by Southwest personnel.
Therefore, if I was running Southwest I would try to settle this case as soon as possible in order to try to avoid further negative exposure.
What do you think?
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