http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2008/07...anhattan_theater_club_directo.html
I was told that the links don't work, here is the story:
The artistic director of the Manhattan Theatre Club is suing Continental Airlines, claiming that a vindictive flight attendant had her detained and interrogated by the FBI without cause.
In a complaint filed yesterday in state Supreme Court, Carolyn "Lynne" Meadow said she was harassed and humiliated on a transoceanic flight to New York from Rome last August 9. Just after takeoff, having fallen asleep in her business class seat, Ms. Meadow claims she was woken by flight attendant Chris Boone's loud conversation with another flight attendant. She put her finger to her lips and said, "Shhh," which angered Mr. Boone, according to the suit.
During the first meal service, Ms. Meadow claims she tried unsuccessfully to watch a film, but found her armrest monitor and control did not work. She asked for help from the in-service manager, who accommodated her by programming the movie centrally, she said, and offering help during the flight if she had any future requests. Hours later, Ms. Meadow said she asked the manager for help again, to set up the movie screen of the sleeping passenger beside her so she could use it.
Once Ms. Meadow was comfortable, she attempted to put her own monitor back in the armrest, and it snapped off from its base. According to the suit, the monitor was attached only by an electrical connection and broke off easily.
Mr. Boone, who had noticed the many requests Ms. Meadow had made to the staff during the flight, confronted her in anger when she showed him the screen, the complaint says, exclaiming: "You destroyed airline property! There is no way this could have come off by itself."
Ms. Meadow claims she followed him into the galley, where he said, "From the moment you 'shushed' me during takeoff, I knew there would not be enough attendants on this plane to take care of you." Mr. Boone, she said, would not hear her explanation and told her, "The authorities will deal with you on the ground." At that, she began to cry and was comforted by other flight attendants, the complaint says.
When the flight was over, four or more Port Authority police officers met her, the suit claims, and detained her in front of the other passengers. She had to surrender her passport, was denied a phone call, and, following a police interview, was transferred to an agent from the FBI. After an hour, she was released without charges and her passport was returned.
Ms. Meadow faults Continental Airlines, as well as Mr. Boone, for emotional distress and humiliation and for providing her with faulty equipment on the flight.
A representative of Continental Airlines declined to comment immediately on the suit but said a flight attendant named Chris Boone is employed with the airline.
The artistic director since 1972 at the nationally acclaimed not-for-profit Manhattan Theatre Club, which produces off-Broadway musicals, Ms. Meadow has been on sabbatical to "travel and write" since August 2007. She is expected to return for the 2008-09 theater season.
Dutchflyboi From Netherlands, joined Apr 2008, 69 posts, RR: 0 Reply 3, posted (1 month 1 week 6 days 11 hours ago) and read 14289 times:
Yeah, there must be more to the story than that she is claiming... there is always 2 sides to a story and the truth maybe somewhere in the middle. Funny how she just got married to an attorney (when you do a google search on her)
Lincoln From United States, joined Nov 2004, 3070 posts, RR: 7 Reply 4, posted (1 month 1 week 6 days 9 hours ago) and read 13935 times:
Quoting Dutchflyboi (Thread starter): She put her finger to her lips and said, "Shhh," which angered Mr. Boone, according to the suit.
I'd be pissed if anyone -- customer or otherwise -- "shhh"ed me. There's a good chance if I reacted (vs just ignoring it), the reaction wouldn't be very plesant. Does "Excuse me sir/ma'am, could you please talk a little quieter?" or some variation really take that much effort?
[One of several reasons I wouldn't do well in a customer service role -- I don't deal with rude people]
But, anyway... I was trying to figure out what this reminded me of until I got to this...
Quoting Dutchflyboi (Thread starter): The artistic director since 1972 at the nationally acclaimed not-for-profit Manhattan Theatre Club, which produces off-Broadway musicals, Ms. Meadow has been on sabbatical to "travel and write" since August 2007. She is expected to return for the 2008-09 theater season.
... it reads like a press release. I can't tell who's press release it is (Meadow, Meadow's Lawyers, or Manhattan Theatre Club), but I don't beleive more than 1/2 of it.
Lincoln
CO Is My Airline of Choice || Baggage Claim is an airline's last chance to disappoint a customer || Next flts in profile
PROSA From United States, joined Oct 2001, 5157 posts, RR: 4 Reply 5, posted (1 month 1 week 6 days 8 hours ago) and read 13849 times:
What is especially amusing is that the passenger is the artistic director of a nonprofit theater company yet earns nearly $400K per year. Not a bad gig.
Eghansen From United States, joined Nov 2007, 619 posts, RR: 0 Reply 6, posted (1 month 1 week 6 days 8 hours ago) and read 13760 times:
I am not sure how meaningful any of the story is.
I work for a large city school district and we have our own legal staff and many lawsuits pending against the district. I have heard it is in the hundreds. I don't think it reflects badly on the school district, but is just the nature of business in the extremely litigious US.
I also know that most of these civil suits do not come to trial and if they do, it can be up to five years after the original incident occurred. I have sat as jury on cases that were four years old when they came to trial.
I also know from working for Marsh & McLennan (large corporate insurance brokerage) for many years before my current job that lawsuits for such intangibles as harassment and humiliation are fairly difficult to win. The judges often dismiss them as lacking basis, particularly Federal judges. You are more likely to win if you have been injured (or killed) or financial damages such as when an airplane crashes and destroys your house.
Often, people file these lawsuits as a bargaining chip to get money. The insurance company providing the liability coverage to the airline (or school district, as the case may be) will pay a certain sum of money just to make the complainant go away without admitting guilt. It is a form of blackmail.
Lastly, as many passengers have found out when delayed or their luggage lost, the legal obligations of the airlines are surprisingly thin. Many passengers think the airline has an obligation to provide with a red carpet trip and that broken videos, bad food, huge delays and lost bags automatically entitle them to big monetary compensation. They soon find out that the international agreements airlines operate under severely limit their liability. I am surprises that the woman can file in a NY State court on an international flight.
Flybyguy From United States, joined Jun 2004, 1430 posts, RR: 1 Reply 7, posted (1 month 1 week 6 days 8 hours ago) and read 13720 times:
I believe the lady. I think flight attendants can pull that sort of crap on a whim. Certainly the passenger was probably particularly rude, however, she probably paid a ton for her seat and is probably entitled to a few airs. I guess airlines have made use of ample counter-terror resources by aiming them at complaining passengers. I really thought Continental was above this sub-par customer service. If Ms. Meadow was not a danger to the flight then this should have best been handled internally through the ground reps.
I would be interested in seeing what the captain had to say about the causes of Ms. Meadow's arrest... after all it was HIS ship.
"Are you a pretender... or a thoroughbred?!" - Professor Matt Miller
CuriousFlyer From United States, joined Oct 2006, 359 posts, RR: 0 Reply 9, posted (1 month 1 week 6 days 8 hours ago) and read 13666 times:
Maybe she has little chances of winning her case, but it seems that a few things are true: the staff member was loud and vindicative, and the IFE lousy (and if you have flown CO BusinessFirst you know that the seats are getting old,even though CO is great for a US airline)... They should have apologized instead of giving her to the cops. She's the client, she might be partly at fault but I doubt she voluntarily destroyed the lousy IFE. Next time she will fly with another airline. CO lost a client and a lot of goodwill. Well done fluffy Mr Boone...
TBYO787 From Colombia, joined Feb 2008, 76 posts, RR: 0 Reply 10, posted (1 month 1 week 6 days 7 hours ago) and read 13611 times:
Goooood. This will teach those unethical FA, how to behave. These are the FAs that after 9/11 think they have the right to mistreat and accuse anyone they feel like for such a stupid reason.
For the price she paid for Businessfirst, she was entitle to take the seat home inclusive.
Flyglobal From Germany, joined Mar 2008, 99 posts, RR: 0 Reply 12, posted (1 month 1 week 6 days 6 hours ago) and read 13441 times:
This case is hard to judge.
For sure the guest was on the nerve side. Asking to setup a neighbours TV set for herself is a new thing for me. She was for sure a more complicated guest which sometimes happens on flights and sometimes those type of guests can 'screw up' the next 8 neighbours around for several hours.
Now we also have to take into account the recent 'none service' basic attitude and 'calibration' of FA's from North American carriers. In the past it was the airlines guidebook who asked the FA's in case of dispute to step back as long as safety is not concerned, even if the customer in un right. I am sure it is still the case in most European Carriers and anyhow Asian carriers. So where was the threshold in this case?
I can assume that US carriers FA's have a much lower threshold nowadays and refuse also being criticised. They rather play the game of power and request for Police support. In this case, even if the customer is a nerving guest, way overdone for sure. Unfortunately we read a lot about similar cases recently.
My question here to FA's (maybe from other then US carriers): isn't this 'deal with nerving guests' one of the standard conflict situations, part of each FA's training course?
I believe this situation could have dealed with differently from an FA perspective with the right professionalism instead of using 'power against power' even if the guest was not a comfortable one streching the FA's emotional skills.
LoneStarMike From United States, joined Jul 2000, 2523 posts, RR: 49 Reply 13, posted (1 month 1 week 6 days 6 hours ago) and read 13437 times:
Quoting Eghansen (Reply 6): Many passengers think the airline has an obligation to provide with a red carpet trip and that broken videos, bad food, huge delays and lost bags automatically entitle them to big monetary compensation.
Ha! Sounds like 3/4 of the posters over on FlyerTalk.
One of the articles posted by Dutchflyboi mentions that after the female passenger's altercation with F/A Chris Boone "she began to cry and was comforted by other flight attendants."
So my question for any F/A's out there is - if you see an altercation between a passenger and another F/A and you feel the other F/A is in the wrong, do you ever take up for the passenger, and if so, how to you go about it? Or do you just ignore the whole thing and choose not to get involved because you may have to work with the other F/A for several more trips?
IAirAllie From United States, joined May 2004, 1677 posts, RR: 9 Reply 14, posted (1 month 1 week 6 days 5 hours ago) and read 13114 times:
Quoting Flybyguy (Reply 7): she probably paid a ton for her seat and is probably entitled to a few airs.
Last time I checked no airline sells attitude entitlements. Paying more for your seat does not give you the right to be nasty. Ah you are in super platinum royalty class you have a choice of baseball bat or cattle prod for beating the staff today. Bat, certainly what an excellent selection madame.
Quoting Flybyguy (Reply 7): the causes of Ms. Meadow's arrest
Destruction of airline property. Takes a pretty hefty effort to snap an IFE screen completely off. Not saying it was on purpose I wasn't there. But this FA obviously thought so based on their previous interactions with the passenger. I am so nosy I wish that we could hear both sides of the story for stuff like this. Unfortunately the airline side rarely gets out in this "no comment" litigeous environment.
Quoting USAFDO (Reply 11): If you really want to discuss rude behavior, try looking at the new DL safety video.
Putting a finger in someones face....moving it back and fourth as if they are a child is extremely rude behavior.
I LOATHE this video. As an elite on Delta I dread it every flight. I have some sort of deep viseral hateful reaction to it. I refresh my safety memory with the card locate exits and safety equipment I might need then tune out the video completely and do the crossword because when I watch it, it really pisses me off for some reason.
Quoting Flyglobal (Reply 12): isn't this 'deal with nerving guests' one of the standard conflict situations, part of each FA's training course?
Training is an intensive program with a focus mainly on safety proceedures and FAA regulations in the US. There is some minor service training. AA had the most of the airlines that I worked for. Some had less than one day's worth. It is something they try to hire for. One airline told us we hire you for your attitude and CS ablity because the safety stuff we can train you for. This stuff needs to be innate.
Quoting LoneStarMike (Reply 13): if you see an altercation between a passenger and another F/A and you feel the other F/A is in the wrong, do you ever take up for the passenger, and if so, how to you go about it?
Absolutely. I do it tactfully. I won't belittle a co-worker infront of passengers. Generally I'll talk to the other FA in a discrete place and say something like "I can tell that passenger is getting under your skin. Do you want me to work that area for a bit and give you a break from them?" or "I'll take care of that for you and get that passenger their XYZ why don't you take a moment to relax." Sometimes the chemistry is just wrong and a change of faces/personality styles may be what it takes to get something resolved. I will do what I can for the passenger if the FA is in the wrong I will try to fix it, if the FA is right but going about it in the wrong way I will try to connect with them using a different communication style back the FA up and explain the why's.
Eghansen From United States, joined Nov 2007, 619 posts, RR: 0 Reply 15, posted (1 month 1 week 6 days 4 hours ago) and read 12640 times:
Quoting LoneStarMike (Reply 13): So my question for any F/A's out there is - if you see an altercation between a passenger and another F/A and you feel the other F/A is in the wrong, do you ever take up for the passenger, and if so, how to you go about it? Or do you just ignore the whole thing and choose not to get involved because you may have to work with the other F/A for several more trips?
My experience working for an airline is that flight attendants stick together, gate agents stick together and ramp workers stick together.
Nowadays, I work as a school teacher and teachers stick together too. Cops as well always seem to stick together.
Maybe it is just human nature.
*******
Having said that about sticking together, I would like to make another comment.
I have taken hundreds of flights in my life and flown thousands of hours. In all the flying I have done, nothing interesting has ever happened. No drunken altercations. No arrests. No 8 hour waits on the tarmac. No flight attendants from hell ready to tie me to the seat with the plastic restraints.
I have sat hour after hour with my video camera ready to film some horrendous travesty being forced on the trusting and unsuspecting flying public so that I can get my 15 minutes of fame on YouTube and Hard Copy and flight after flight, NOTHING. I am so ready to have my day in court and collect my thousands of dollars in insurance payments for humiliation and degradation and NOTHING EVER HAPPENS.
I get on planes, drink my little cup of orange juice, read the boring articles in the inflight magazine about exciting places to eat in Knoxville and Des Moines and get off again.
The final insult is that after all these hundreds of flights the airlines have never even lost my bag. How am I supposed to exercise my right to complain and sue them when they haven't got the decency to at least once misplace my luggage?
Wouwout From Netherlands, joined Dec 2007, 59 posts, RR: 0 Reply 16, posted (1 month 1 week 6 days 4 hours ago) and read 12579 times:
Quoting Flyglobal (Reply 12): I can assume that US carriers FA's have a much lower threshold nowadays and refuse also being criticised. They rather play the game of power and request for Police support. In this case, even if the customer is a nerving guest, way overdone for sure. Unfortunately we read a lot about similar cases recently.
I agree with this observation. Displaying authority is different from having authority.
USAFDO From United States, joined Jan 2008, 120 posts, RR: 0 Reply 17, posted (1 month 1 week 6 days 3 hours ago) and read 12551 times:
My opinion is to be fair in all of this.
So far all we know is "media hype" which seems to blame CO & all the F/A's working that flight. That in itself sounds very suspicious. To have a crew of 8 to 12 F/A's all treating a PAX in the business class section in such a negative manner does not sound realistic or true.
And CO will probably not make any statement on this, so all we will be left is with a one sided story.
My opinion is I see through the "smoke screen" of the media. This PAX was probably a real "pain in the a$$, with lots of attitude & ego". Acting like some type of royal elite-st who expected all the F/A's to kiss her a$$.
So probably after putting up with her cr@p for a while....she was given a "reality check" upon arrival. Brough her back down to reality!
After CO inflight interviews the senior purser, and associated F/A's the stories will be consistant, and it will all be dropped....
Zkpilot From New Zealand, joined Mar 2006, 2679 posts, RR: 4 Reply 18, posted (1 month 1 week 6 days 3 hours ago) and read 12520 times:
Quoting LoneStarMike (Reply 13): So my question for any F/A's out there is - if you see an altercation between a passenger and another F/A and you feel the other F/A is in the wrong, do you ever take up for the passenger, and if so, how to you go about it? Or do you just ignore the whole thing and choose not to get involved because you may have to work with the other F/A for several more trips?
It is considered to be SOP for the onboard manager to step in and deal with the customer whilst the FA concerned is moved away. Once the situation with the pax is resolved then the onboard manager has a little talk to the FA. Now if it is a security situation or the pax has obviously done something wrong then it is more likely that that pax will be confronted by other FAs although the first FA is still likely to be separated if they are upset/angry etc.
Sounds like this pax was a PITA and may have been drunk/on sleeping pills etc...
I have seen such an occurance happen where a pax has mixed these two and physically SNAPPED an economy seat in half! and it was a woman too! Those seats are supposed to be strong.
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