Man Sues Jet Blue After Having To Spend Hours In Toilet

A New York City man is suing JetBlue Airways Corp. for more than $2 million because he says a pilot made him give up his seat to a flight attendant and sit on the toilet for more than three hours on a flight from California.

Gokhan Mutlu, of Manhattan's Inwood section, says in court papers the pilot told him to "go 'hang out' in the bathroom" about 90 minutes into the San Diego to New York flight because the flight attendant complained that the "jump seat" she was assigned was uncomfortable, the lawsuit said.

Mutlu was traveling on a a "buddy pass," a standby travel voucher that JetBlue employees give to friends, from New York to San Diego on Feb. 16, and returned to New York on Feb. 23, the lawsuit said.

Initially, Mutlu was told a flight attendant had taken the last seat on the plane, but then he was advised she would sit in the employee "jump seat," meaning he could have the last seat, the lawsuit said.

The pilot told him 1 1/2 hours into the five-hour flight that he would have to relinquish the seat to the flight attendant, court papers say. But the pilot said that Mutlu could not sit in the jump seat because only JetBlue employees were permitted to sit there, the lawsuit said.

When Mutlu expressed reluctance to go sit in the bathroom, the pilot, who was not named in the lawsuit, told him that "he was the pilot, that this was his plane, under his command that (Mutlu) should be grateful for being on board," the lawsuit said.

The aircraft hit turbulence and passengers were directed to return to their seats, but "the plaintiff had no seat to return to, sitting on a toilet stool with no seat belts," court papers say.

Some time later, a male flight attendant knocked on the restroom door and told Mutlu he could return to his original seat, court papers say.

Mutlu's lawsuit, filed Friday in Manhattan's state Supreme Court, says JetBlue negligently endangered him by not providing him with a seat with a safety belt or harness, in violation of federal law.

A JetBlue spokesman declined comment on the lawsuit Monday.

Comments

[Nyland8]

JET BLEW IT !

8

[Lemeritus]

Nyland8, there's a future for you in headlines! Perhaps we can convince the HuffPo to give you a gig since the headlines here are notoriously neither accurate nor amusing.

[londubh]

I'll bet he had a crappy ride.

[MaracaKabob]

Ha!

[PlanetKansas]

My wife was injured and disabled from a medical accident. Though the jury agreed that she was disabled, they held the doctor harmless because accidents happen, so there was no settlement. This man was inconvenienced for a few hours and will likely win a few million.

[bsc]

sorry but apples and oranges...­this wasnt an accident.

[bsc]

also you either have a verdict or a settlement ie no settlement if you have had a jury trial

[jubo]

Disgusting. A disgrace. What is happening to standards?

[andyboy]

The guy sues and wants damages for being a pussy?

[Tom95134]

You have little choice but to do what they say. If you argue with any of the flight crew you will be facing arrest and federal charges as soon as you land. It's called interfering with the operation of an aircraft. I think I would have used the on-board telephone or my cell phone to call a lawyer and have someone waiting with court papers at the arrival gate.

But then I always thought that flying on Jet Blue was a sh!tty way to travel.

[unclesmedley]

When someone says : "I am the pilot; this is my plane, under my command, and you should be grateful for being on board."

The proper response is: "You are; it is--and I'm not. So, just land this thing and I'll happily 'deplane' and get to work on my lawsuit against you and your airline.. Until then, I ain't goin' nowhere."

[TrueBlueMajority]

One more reason to avoid flying.

[Rockwell]

Remember when air travel used to be a dignified, pleasant experience? Neither do I.

[IRememberClifford]

It still is. Oh, you don't fly Cathy Pacific? Or Singapore Airlines? Or Malaysian Air? Or Asiana or KAL for Korea? Do I need to go on? There's too many in the Far East for me to list.
And don't get me started on Emirates Air, Qatar Airline, Gulf Air, etc.
First class food, beautiful hostesses (the Koreans must be models!), REAL SILVERWARE! (LOL!), prepared meals, Wine! Free! Starbucks coffee! And brand new planes! Oh, the list goes on and on...

Yes, the US is on it's way to Third World status. (Hope EU doesn't follow, but UK should). As the dollar and oil prices head in opposite directions, so goes the US - curiously opting to follow the dollar... south. It's almost over.

New Third World
http://thirdworldnation.wordpress.com/

[hope4theflowers]

umm, hostesses looking like "models" doesnt qualify an airline as quality..w­omen aren't sex objects..t­hanks.If they are to you im not interested in your opinions on anything else.

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

Just curious how many of those airlines run in the red and are supported by their countries as "halo" products.

[Annette]

I appreciate that you like looking at pretty women, but how well traine are they. I was on Cathay Pacific when a passanger had a seizure. The air hostess stood in the asile and screamed. Another passanger was able to lower the victem to the floor, make them comfortable and deal with the situation. The air hostess eventally stopped screaming.

I would rather have a hostess who can deal with an emergency and looked like an ordinary woman. But The food was good.

[situationcritical]

Lufthansa has some pretty sexy male stewards, some of whom are models. The hottest ones were on the Concorde. Hey, we aren't all looking at beautiful hostesses.

[WIpatriot]

Dipshits.

[SCharb]

First Class, Business Class, and... No Class.

[DirtyDawg]

The whole thing is absurd, but I do hope that the guy held the toilet hostage for the entire flight, directing potential users to 'go check with the pilot...th­is seat is mine', when they knocked on the door needing to 'do their thing'. I mean if I had finally agreed to follow the pilots orders, the last thing I would want is to have to put up the the stink after every use - hell, that in itself should be worth another million in compensatory damages...­pain and suffering.­..punitive­...whateve­r.