Woman sues Southwest for $10 million for kicking her off flight after she removed mask ‘to drink water’

A US-based lady is suing Southwest Airways for $10m after she was ejected from one of many airline’s flights for not complying with masks guidelines.

Florida-based Medora Clai Studying, 68, alleges that she was wrongly kicked off her flight on 7 January 2021 for not sporting a masks – saying that she solely eliminated her masks to periodically drink water.

In a case filed on Wednesday, Studying claimed that she wanted to remain hydrated for medical causes, together with a coronary heart situation and low blood sugar, however a “hostile” flight attendant saved demanding that she hold her masks on.

She additionally claims she provided to indicate the crew member her medical exemption card however was instructed, “We don’t care”.

Studying claims she was ordered off the flight as an unmasked pilot “laughed mockingly” at her.

After disembarking, she alleges that airport police who helped her mentioned that these evictions from flights had been “occurring far too usually”, saying “it’s normally Southwest.”

Her lawyer, Kristina Heuser, claims a “planeload filled with witnesses” noticed the incident, with some videoing it.

The lawyer accused Southwest of “hostile and abusive” conduct and “Covid madness”.

Finish-of-year knowledge from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reveals that 5,981 unruly passenger incidents had been reported by airways in 2021, with 4,290 of these associated to mask-wearing guidelines.

FAA graphics present that incident numbers shot up between January and February 2021, across the time its “zero tolerance coverage” was introduced, and have since fluctuated however remained pretty excessive.

A Southwest Airways spokesperson mentioned: “We’ve got no instant remark to supply on this now-pending litigation, as we make an preliminary overview of the grievance.”