Due to Turbulence, Please Return to Your Toilet Seat
Monday, May 26, 2008 at 03:00
Posted by Marcel Strigberger
Gokhan Mutlu has little love for Jet Blue Airways. He is suing them. It seems he had a complimentary ticket on a flight from San Diego to New York. Due to a seat shortage, an hour and a half into the flight, the pilot demanded that Gokhan Mutlu relinquish his seat to a stewardess. Both had been flying complementary but the stewardess had been sitting on a swing seat reserved for fight attendants which seat she did not like. As seats were in such short supply, the pilot asked Gokhan to sit out the flight on the toilet. This seating arrangement did not sit well with Gokhan. He launched a claim against Jet Blue for $2 million for their efforts. I guess he did not find this seat as good as say, a gold at the Air Canada Centre.
My question is, why two million dollars? Lawyers usually use precedent cases to convince a judge or jury of the value of their claims. Is there precedent for something similar? Maybe there is a case, something like Von Limburg v. Austrian Airlines, where a court gave the plaintiff 1.8 million dollars when due to a computer glitch the airline made Von Limburg sit in the galley on top of a crate of Weiner Schnitzels.
And certainly Mutlu will require some expert testimony to justify these damages. I have no doubt that there is some shrink out there from Berkeley University, a Professor Wesley Whooly Jr., who has done extensive research on just this type of matter. The professor will come to court and testify that he has examined Gokhan Mutlu and in his opinion, as a result of being made to sit on the toilet for over three hours at a high altitude, the plaintiff is suffering from post traumatic altophobic avoidance disorder, wherein the patient is not able to relieve himself unless he travels at least 500 feet below sea level.
While I don’t condone Jet Blue’s actions, I think Gokhan Mutlu is pushing this claim. After all, his flight was complimentary. What did he expect? Induction into the Mile High Club? At least he did not have to stand in line to use the washroom. $2 million for his ordeal? For $2 million, I’d fly in the baggage compartment.
Good luck Gokhan Mutlu.
My question is, why two million dollars? Lawyers usually use precedent cases to convince a judge or jury of the value of their claims. Is there precedent for something similar? Maybe there is a case, something like Von Limburg v. Austrian Airlines, where a court gave the plaintiff 1.8 million dollars when due to a computer glitch the airline made Von Limburg sit in the galley on top of a crate of Weiner Schnitzels.
And certainly Mutlu will require some expert testimony to justify these damages. I have no doubt that there is some shrink out there from Berkeley University, a Professor Wesley Whooly Jr., who has done extensive research on just this type of matter. The professor will come to court and testify that he has examined Gokhan Mutlu and in his opinion, as a result of being made to sit on the toilet for over three hours at a high altitude, the plaintiff is suffering from post traumatic altophobic avoidance disorder, wherein the patient is not able to relieve himself unless he travels at least 500 feet below sea level.
While I don’t condone Jet Blue’s actions, I think Gokhan Mutlu is pushing this claim. After all, his flight was complimentary. What did he expect? Induction into the Mile High Club? At least he did not have to stand in line to use the washroom. $2 million for his ordeal? For $2 million, I’d fly in the baggage compartment.
Good luck Gokhan Mutlu.
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