A gay couple has filed a lawsuit against Spirit Airlines Inc., claiming that they were discriminated against and improperly removed from a plane at Los Angeles International Airport in 2022 due to their sexual orientation. The incident occurred when a flight attendant thought a rash on one of the plaintiffs’ neck could be caused by mpox.
The lawsuit, filed by Jacqueline Nguyen in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges sexual orientation discrimination and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and seeks both compensatory and punitive damages. Moreover, Nguyen also requests an injunction to prevent Spirit from requiring non-heterosexual passengers to prove that they do not have sexually transmitted diseases.
As of now, Spirit Airlines has not responded to the lawsuit brought forward on Wednesday.
In Nguyen’s complaint, she explains that she and her wife boarded a Spirit flight from LAX to Dallas on August 22nd of last year. However, an employee asked them to disembark, leaving the couple bewildered. Later, another airline worker approached Nguyen, inquiring about the rash on her face, as stated in the lawsuit.
“Ms. Nguyen explained to them that it was just eczema and not contagious,” the lawsuit adds.
Nevertheless, Spirit employees expressed concern that Nguyen might be infected with the virus previously known as monkeypox, which was renamed by the World Health Organization in November 2022. The lawsuit notes that their fear was based on speculation without any supporting evidence. The term “monkeypox” was deemed stigmatizing and racist, according to the employees.
“This assumption demonstrated that Spirit Airlines was stereotyping Ms. Nguyen, as they seemed to believe that gay people are more susceptible to carrying the disease,” the lawsuit argues.
Additionally, the lawsuit states that Nguyen felt humiliated and ashamed, leading her to cry in response to the treatment she received from the Spirit Airlines employees.
The employees confirmed that a flight attendant had reported Nguyen’s rash and explained to the couple that they were being questioned due to health concerns surrounding the mpox virus at the time, according to the lawsuit.
Nguyen’s wife informed the airline employees that their conduct was unlawful and discriminatory. Furthermore, she emphasized that they had no right to remove passengers based on mere suspicion of having mpox, as outlined in the lawsuit.
The couple was eventually allowed to reboard the plane after Nguyen showed the employees a cream she used to treat her eczema, the lawsuit reveals. However, it was evident to everyone on board that the delay occurred due to the rash, which caused Nguyen to hide her face out of humiliation and shame, the lawsuit adds.
Upon landing, a flight attendant sat next to the couple and handed $30 to Nguyen’s wife, instructing them to “go put gas in their tank or get dinner,” according to the lawsuit.
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