Woman Whose Reclining Airplane Seat Poked By Angry Man In Viral Video Now Plans To Sue American Airlines
The American Airlines passenger who had her reclining seat poked by a man in a viral video is now planning to take the airline to court in an odd twist.
As The New York Post reported, the video showing a man shaking and repeatedly jabbing the headrest of the woman as she reclined into his space was a viral hit and a lightning rod for arguments. Many sided with the woman, saying that passengers in seats that recline are free to use that feature as they see fit, but others believed it was an invasion of the privacy and personal space of the man sitting behind her, whose seat could not recline.
The video was filmed during a January 31 flight from New Orleans to Charlotte by the woman being poked, and went viral after she shared it on Twitter last week. As the report noted, the woman is going after American Airlines after the company stepped into the debate to claim that she had knocked over the man’s drink, which she claimed is defamation. Williams also said that the staff on her flight wrongly sided with the man and gave her an official “passenger disturbance notice” when she would not stop recording video of the incident.
“@AmericanAir Please refrain from placing any blame about what happened to me on your awful airline with your rude flight attendant! And if I inadvertently spilled a drink on the ‘man’ – I had NO idea that happened. Who said it did @AmericanAir?” Williams tweeted Friday.
The report noted that American Airlines is planning to fight the suit, and refused her when she made a call on Thursday asking for compensation for the incident. Williams has now reportedly retained an attorney and is considering further legal action.
This video has the internet legitimately divided .
Dude is in the last seat on the plane. Seat doesn’t recline.
Hers does. And she reclines.
He’s upset, and is punching her seat incessantly— so she records.
Who is right?!
Who is wrong?!See you at 7p on #FOX5LION@fox5dc pic.twitter.com/jjjTLLwvEc
— Marina Marraco (@MarinaMarraco) February 12, 2020
The viral video has made waves beyond the actions with American Airlines. In an appearance on CNBC this week, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian weighed in, saying that passengers have a right to recline their seats but said passengers should talk to each other to make sure it’s all right first.
Bastian also got in a bit of a plug for his own airline, noting that they have already been taking actions to make sure the reclining seats aren’t intrusive.
“I think customers have the right to recline. We’ve been testing reduced recline… But I think that the proper thing to do is if you’re going to recline into somebody, that you ask if it’s OK first. I never say anything myself, though,” he said.
