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A California nurse is threatening to take legal action against Southwest Airlines as she was left “humiliated” after allegedly being kicked off a flight for her “disfiguring” genetic disorder.
Brianna Solari from Roseville boarded Southwest Flight 3471 from Hollywood Burbank Airport at around 12pm on Thursday when she said she was confronted by a crew member who allegedly asked her to step off the aircraft.
The woman said she was flying home following surgery hoping to help treat her Neurofibromatosis, an incurable genetic disorder that causes tumors to grow along the nerves. The procedure looked at removing some of the tumors from her body.
“So tumors grow along nerves and can be tiny, little pinpoint tumors, or they can be enormous. Some of them can be very disfiguring,” she told KCRA.
The flight attendant, who remains nameless, asked Solari whether she had any medical conditions or diseases, she claimed.
“That’s none of their business what’s going on. But I said, no, I had surgery. And they said, ‘OK,’” the medical professional said.
Solari said that the crew member called a doctor who was contracted with the airline on his mobile phone. Solari claimed that she wanted to speak directly with the physician, but the employee prevented her from doing so.
“I exited the airplane, and they said there had been some concerns,” she said.
Solari missed her flight and she allegedly had to obtain a letter from her surgeon which explained her condition, clearing her to fly. Solari was later allowed to travel and said she boarded another flight to Sacramento. The specific flight details are not clear.
The whole scenario left her feeling both angry and ashamed, and she declared she’ll never fly with Southwest Airlines again.
“Humiliated, embarrassed, ashamed? It’s already hard enough. It’s already difficult enough with this condition because I did have some visible tumors on my face and my arms, and people would comment,” she said.
“I don’t think I’ll ever fly them again. I think this could have been handled much more professionally,” Solari added.
Following her experience, the woman said she received a $500 flight voucher and a $45 meal voucher from the airline. She is, however, allegedly still threatening legal action, according to KCRA.
“This is absolutely discrimination! Violating my medical privacy. They don’t have to know I just said I had surgery, and that should be it. They shouldn’t be prying into my private medical information,” Solari said.
When approached for comment about Solari’s experience, a Southwest Airlines spokesperson said that the company offers its “deepest apologies”.
“We are disheartened to learn of the Customer’s experience flying with us and extend our deepest apologies for the inconvenience,” they told The Independent.
“Even though our Team ultimately received clearance for the Customer to travel, we weren’t able to do so in time for the flight’s departure. We rebooked her on a later flight, offered a travel voucher for a future flight along with a meal voucher, and we’re following up with her directly to discuss the situation.”
