West Virginia Woman Sues Two Airlines for Injuries
Two years ago, Patricia Kent Johnston bought a Delta airline ticket to travel from Las Vegas to Charleston, with a stop in Cincinnati. She filed suit against two airlines when she was allegedly left in a wheel chair in freezing temperatures and then dropped and injured while getting to her seat.
Johnston and her two daughters, Jane Trail and Patty Johnston, plaintiffs, filed the original airline injury suit, which was transferred to federal court in March 2012. They are requesting that the case be tried by a jury and are seeking special and punitive damages from both Delta and Chautauqua Airlines.
According to Johnston, she was promised wheelchair assistance, help getting to and from her seat and a covered breezeway to protect her from freezing temperatures. She maintains that these promises were not kept and left her injured.
The suit states that Chautauqua did not provide the promised breezeway and that she was left on the tarmac below the plane in “below freezing weather” while waiting for a lift promised by the officials of the airline.
In addition, Johnston and her family allege that they were forced to wait again at the top of the lift while the airline conducted final safety checks. The suit claims that, “Mrs. Johnston and her family were then made to wait on the lift, up in the open air, in below-freezing weather, for several more minutes, while the airliner passengers looked on.”
Additionally, Johnston alleges that when an employee tried to help her to her seat, her ankle was injured and required surgery. The suit states that, “In his attempt, he dropped Mrs. Johnston, causing her serious and permanent injuries: and all defendants allowed her to remain unattended on the floor of the airliner; and they offered her no assistance whatever, while her family and Good Samaritan passengers attempted to render aid to her . . .”
Both airlines denied any wrongdoing and maintain that the “plaintiffs were guilty of comparative negligence.”
Since graduating magna cum laude in 2005 from the University of Memphis School of Law, Thomas has helped make a difference in the lives of victims of serious personal injury, wrongful death, and professional negligence. Thomas has extensive trial experience in both state and federal court. Among other victories in the courtroom, Thomas obtained several impressive jury verdicts and settlements
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