Woman Gets Kicked Off Plane For Wearing T-Shirt
A Washington state woman plans to file a civil rights suit against Southwest Airlines for getting kicked off a flight because of the T-shirt she was wearing. Lorrie Heasley had already departed from Los Angeles on Tuesday (October 4th) and was nearly halfway home when fellow passengers started complaining about her T-shirt. The shirt featured pictures of President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and a phrase similar to the film Meet the Fockers. Thirty-two-year-old Heasley said she was sporting the shirt as a gag and wanted to show it to her parents who were supposed to meet her at the Portland, Oregon airport.
Heasley claims that no one said anything to her about the T-shirt before she boarded the plane. After people started complaining during the flight, she was asked to cover up the shirt by cuddling with a sweatshirt, but it slipped off when she fell asleep. That's when flight attendants told Heasley she must either wear it inside out or exit the plane during the layover in Reno, Nevada. Heasley and her husband decided to leave before the last leg of the flight.
Lawyer Allen Lichtenstein said Heasley's T-shirt is protected political speech under the Constitution. He said the real issue is that the airline allowed her to wear the shirt on board in the first place and then objected only when people complained. Meanwhile, Southwest spokesperson Marilee McInnis said the rules filed with the Federal Aviation Administration say the airline will deny boarding to any customer whose clothing is, quote, "lewd, obscene, or patently offensive."
Does she have a right to wear this shirt? Did the airline do the right thing?
posted by Pat Campbell @ 10:21 AM
8 comments
8 Comments:
Well, obviously they should have made her remove the t-shirt and fly the rest of the way topless.
should have removed the shirt or turned it inside out. It is such a pain that it is getting so the few are protected in one way or another and the majority have to be so careful not to offend.
If you do not like her shirt, don't look at it!
there are no more rules in regard to public obscenity ?
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and to the poster saying "if u don't like her shirt,don't look at it " --- that's an inappropriate response to the situation.
if one didn't see it to begin with there would have been no problem.
wearer thinks and acts like a toddler stuck in poo poo phase--
look at me....i can ,i do and i will--
Barbara, you're fuct!
Because the shirt had an obscenity, it was right to make her remove it. The girl was stupid for wearing it in the first place!
Our constitution guarantees us freedom of speech, but that doesn't mean we are free from the consequences of that speech. If I told my boss off on a bad day, I would be fired. She has a right to wear and obscene shirt, and the airline has a right to ask her to take it off or get off the plane.
it wasnt a "free speech" infringment; that's nothing but media hype. i mean, the shirt had the f word on it - i'm sure there are mothers with small kids and elderly people on the plane, they dont need to and shouldn't have to deal with that.
i'm sure the airline didnt want to make a scene unless they had to, hence them not asking her to remove or cover it up until they got complaints
and a sweatshirt "slipping off while asleep" - please! that doesnt happen, sweatshirts are hoodies or zip-ups, and they certainly dont "slip off."
this woman just wanted attention and she damn well got it, too bad she was wrong any way you look at it!
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