A California woman is suing JetBlue, claiming the airline’s refusal to allow her emotional support dog to accompany her last year led to a resurgence in her Stage 4 cancer. According to the lawsuit, the woman and her husband claim JetBlue also violated the Americans with Disabilities Act when a crew member kicked them off the flight, forcing them to scramble to find a new way home, the Independent reports.
When Peter and Oksana Kiritchenko originally booked their tickets, the couple say they submitted the necessary U.S. Department of Transportation Service Animal Air Transportation Form to JetBlue. While their outbound flight went off without a hitch, when they attempted to board their return flight, they were told the only way Pier would be allowed on board would be if one of them moved to the main cabin.
“Plaintiffs had a pressing need to get back home (Mrs. Kiritchenko being a cancer patient had to be locally available in Los Angeles for her checkups), so they agreed,” the lawsuit says.
Oksana agreed, but later, a flight attendant asked her to put Pier in a “much smaller” bag. When he didn’t fit, the plane returned to the gate, and they were forced to find a new flight. The first one available flew out of Miami the next day, requiring them to get from Fort Lauderdale to Miami and rent a hotel room for the night. The good news is, Delta didn’t have a problem letting Pier fly with them.
In the lawsuit, Peter and Oksana Kiritchenko said they experienced “an unexplainable level of cruel humiliation and ridicule” when JetBlue wouldn’t let their dog join them in first class. They also say their “federally protected right to be accompanied on the flight with their service animal was violated.”
The lawsuit further claims that Oksana Kiritchenko, “although a Stage-4 cancer patient, had been in remission prior [to] the events described hereinabove. Those events caused Mrs. Kiritchenko an extreme amount of stress. Upon arrival home, she checked in to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center hospital in Los Angeles. The test results had shown the mean tumor molecules levels (‘MTM/ml’) had risen to 0.59. Several prior tests were showing test results at 0.00.”
Whether these claims will hold up in court remains to be seen. As Live and Let’s Fly points out, the Air Carrier Access Act governs flight issues, not the ADA. The complaint also apparently switches between referring to Pier as a service animal and an emotional support animal, making it hard to know whether the dog should be considered a service animal or not. Under the ACAA, JetBlue would have been required to accommodate a trained service dog but not an emotional support animal, and JetBlue’s website clearly states that dogs are not allowed in first class.
As for her cancer returning, it’s hard to see how Oksana would be able to show it has anything to do with the stress she experienced. Still, crazier things have happened before, and we’ll be keeping an eye on this lawsuit as it moves forward.