Too fat to fly? 6 million dolars lawsuit!

[marylander1940]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2747949/Widower-settles-6million-lawsuit-airlines-late-wife-deemed-fat-fly.html

[Diverdan]

I am saddened by her death, but anyone who weighs that much didn't have much time to live, and why wasn't she under Drs. care in the USA. A real tragic situation, but if there had been an emergency on a flight with her aboard, there would have been nothing anyone could have done. I think airlines have a duty to not try to be helpful to someone like this, I am sorry to say. What did she weigh when she went to Europe in the first place, and what accommodations were made for her then? A special lift and wheel chair to bring her into the plane from the rear? Like I said, I am sorry for this tragic situation, but there is obviously a lot more to this story than is being reported, IMHO.

[marylander1940]

I am saddened by her death, but anyone who weighs that much didn't have much time to live, and why wasn't she under Drs. care in the USA. A real tragic situation, but if there had been an emergency on a flight with her aboard, there would have been nothing anyone could have done. I think airlines have a duty to not try to be helpful to someone like this, I am sorry to say. What did she weigh when she went to Europe in the first place, and what accommodations were made for her then? A special lift and wheel chair to bring her into the plane from the rear? Like I said, I am sorry for this tragic situation, but there is obviously a lot more to this story than is being reported, IMHO.

 

Well said!

 

I was concerned about posting this because I already had a similar thread last week about "leg room fight", but I'm glad this is a topic that generates interest.

 

Unfortunately this subject will never be as popular as: crunchy or smooth peanut butter...

 

http://www.companyofmen.org/showthread.php?100181-A-Defining-Question-For-Our-Era-Crunchy-Or-Smootth

[Nvr2Thick]

The headline should read Too ILL and DISABLED to Fly. It's a dumb story, but we shouldn't be surprised because The Daily Mail is a trashy news source. The article is clearly slanted with absurd and questionable statements.

 

On both the KLM Royal Dutch Airlines flight and the Lufthansa flight the issue was with lifting the woman out of her wheelchair into the seats. For the Lufthansa flight the local fire department was called in to assist. This is speculation, but one can imagine how impossibly difficult it would be for a couple of strong guys to maneuver a heavy disabled person from a commercial airplane aisle into a seat row. The airlines had to accommodate more than just her weight. This person became incapacitated while on vacation.

 

The lawsuit was ridiculous. Surely there was a physician somewhere in Budapest who could have helped her, or she was dying. The idea that she died because she couldn't get to New York is nuts. Let's hope that the undisclosed amount of the settlement was not too large. It's a shame to bully these businesses with bad press.

 

These articles are currently on the home page of the Mail:

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2747881/Bulldog-mauled-four-year-old-Lexi-death-went-straight-throat-watched-TV-home-mother-tells-inquest.html

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2747948/Persian-cat-Oscar-owner-hospital-SIX-DAYS-sinking-claws-artery-tried-bath-rid-fleas.html

[marylander1940]

The headline should read Too ILL and DISABLED to Fly. It's a dumb story, but we shouldn't be surprised because The Daily Mail is a trashy news source. The article is clearly slanted with absurd and questionable statements.

 

 

Here's the version of this story at the WSJ's blog.

 

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2014/09/08/airlines-settle-too-fat-to-fly-lawsuit-brought-by-new-york-city-widower/

 

Don't judge a book by its cover or a story by the messenger.

 

Let's remember that the National Enquirer discovered the Edward's affair and love child, the one he had with that woman, not the one he fathered with a bigfoot and that first story almost got them the Pulitzer.

 

http://www.nationalenquirer.com/photo-gallery/how-enquirer-broke-john-edwards-love-child-scandal

[Nvr2Thick]

Here's the version of this story at the WSJ's blog.

 

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2014/09/08/airlines-settle-too-fat-to-fly-lawsuit-brought-by-new-york-city-widower/

 

Don't judge a book by its cover or a story by the messenger.

 

Let's remember that the National Enquirer discovered the Edward's affair and love child, the one he had with that woman, not the one he fathered with a bigfoot and that first story almost got them the Pulitzer.

 

http://www.nationalenquirer.com/photo-gallery/how-enquirer-broke-john-edwards-love-child-scandal

 

It still reeks of a frivolous lawsuit. While the article is less sensational it's still missing facts about the situation itself. This "news" story is about the settlement, and it's peppered with background information. It's easy to confuse reported statements with facts. For example, “it was discovered that the backs of two seats in their row were broken" is not a corroborated fact -- it's a quote from the complaint.

 

Once again we see two attempts to get this woman on to an airplane, successful but for the last step of getting her out of a wheelchair and into her seat. There's no mention of broken seat backs in the second attempt -- just the extreme measures of having airline medics and local firefighters unable to move her into her row. The account mentions only that the couple was ordered off the plane in order to make connections, not how long the boarding was delayed by the effort.

 

I'd speculate that this is a case of choosing not to win the battle but lose the war for the airlines. Sturdy lawyers with percentage settlement incentives drag in all manner of ambiguity regarding disabilities law in two countries, expert testimony, and unfortunate accounts of less than perfect judgment on the part of the airlines' crew and staff. At the heart of the matter is whether this woman died because she couldn't get to New York and whether the airline has an obligation to accommodate someone who is too weak, disabled, and unwieldy to be seated; instead it's likely to be about avoiding a costly, protracted public lawsuit and bad press. It's absurd to think that airlines would be required to go to such extremes for a passenger. The lawsuit milks the "too fat" angle, but the woman's entire physical condition is the issue. She was too weak and ill to travel.

 

Journalism is too often "reporting about reporting". In this case, did you notice that this is a blog entry and not a true article? There are a few editorial errors including a missing quotation mark after "proper wheelchair", and a sentence ending with "the lawsuit suit."

 

There's no real investigation or journalism from either link. Both have regurgitated the readily available information -- mostly reporting on the claims themselves. Unless someone comes in with some factual account of the situation we're looking at pop journalism reinforcing the complaints of the so-called victims.

 

Don't judge a book by its provocative title either.

[+ purplekow]

Well I am glad Marylander had time to pick this rag newspaper article up on line. I guess it leaves him time on the supermarket line to read the labels.

[jimboivyo]

crap lawsuit, crap story

 

how many folks did the woman expect to help her on and off an airplane? it's not a human right to fly in a commercial airliner. she had several other options of getting from point a to b.

 

the airlines are gutless for settling out of court

[marylander1940]

Well I am glad Marylander had time to pick this rag newspaper article up on line. I guess it leaves him time on the supermarket line to read the labels.

 

I read about it on yahoo, and I googled it, but I do remember seen John Edwards pictures with a babe in his arms on the front page in 2010.

 

Damn, I gave him money in 2004, and in 2008 I voted for Hillary. I can't pick a winner in a primary!

 

crap lawsuit, crap story

 

how many folks did the woman expect to help her on and off an airplane? it's not a human right to fly in a commercial airliner. she had several other options of getting from point a to b.

 

the airlines are gutless for settling out of court

 

It scares the hell out of me when I agree with you...

[adriano46]

crap lawsuit, crap story

 

how many folks did the woman expect to help her on and off an airplane? it's not a human right to fly in a commercial airliner. she had several other options of getting from point a to b.

 

the airlines are gutless for settling out of court

 

+1 - But most settle out of court simply to stop the uproar that could lead them to bankruptcy in a long drawn out case. And another reason for TORT reform and settlement limits -- will we ever get it??????

[marylander1940]

[video=youtube;Hh_HyNfyOKs]

[bigvalboy]

I don't understand why a woman in that condition, would travel so far from her primary care physician. I have friends who are not in good health, and always consider how far they should be from their doctor when traveling, should an emergency occur. It's very sad that she has passed away, but it was irresponsible in my opinion.

[Bosguy]

I don't understand why a woman in that condition, would travel so far from her primary care physician. I have friends who are not in good health, and always consider how far they should be from their doctor when traveling, should an emergency occur. It's very sad that she has passed away, but it was irresponsible in my opinion.

 

I totally agree. Reading all this data, the one thing that was never brought out was why she was given permission to travel that far from her medical professionals in New York--BASED ON HER SEVERE HEALTH PROBLEMS NOT SOLELY HER SIZE. I personally think the airlines did everything in there power to attempt to get her back to New York. This is a lawsuit that never should have been settled. Shame on whoever made money off this suit.

 

Boston Bill

[cany10011]

Lawyers do anything for money. Also, the poor judgement of the fat woman and her husband are to blame for it.

 

I totally agree. Reading all this data, the one thing that was never brought out was why she was given permission to travel that far from her medical professionals in New York--BASED ON HER SEVERE HEALTH PROBLEMS NOT SOLELY HER SIZE. I personally think the airlines did everything in there power to attempt to get her back to New York. This is a lawsuit that never should have been settled. Shame on whoever made money off this suit.

 

Boston Bill

[marylander1940]

Lawyers do anything for money. Also, the poor judgement of the fat woman and her husband are to blame for it.

 

There's a Spanish proverb that says: "De los tontos y los porfiados, viven y medran los abogados."

 

"from the fools and the stubborn, lawyers make a living and better themselves.