Woman Booted Off Flight Over T Shirt

[MrsSpringsteen]

Reno, Nevada

A woman was booted off a Southwest Airlines flight for wearing a T- shirt that bore an expletive and images of President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Lorrie Heasley of Woodland, Wash., said she plans to press a civil- rights complaint against the airline over Tuesday's action at Reno- Tahoe International Airport, halfway through Heasley's scheduled trip from Los Angeles to Portland, Ore.

"I have cousins in Iraq and other relatives going to war," Heasley told the Reno Gazette-Journal. "Here we are trying to free another country and I have to get off an airplane ... over a T-shirt. That's not freedom."

Southwest Airlines spokeswoman Marilee McInnis said several passengers complained about the shirt.

Heasley, a 32-year-old lumber saleswoman, said passengers began complaining after she and her husband, Ron, moved to the front of the cabin in Reno.

She agreed to cover the words with a sweatshirt, but when the sweatshirt slipped while she was trying to sleep, she was ordered to wear her T-shirt inside-out or leave.

She and her husband left. They arrived home in a rental car Wednesday afternoon.

McInnis said Southwest rules allow the airline to deny boarding to any passenger whose clothing is "lewd, obscene or patently offensive."

But Allen Lichtenstein, lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union in Las Vegas, said it "might be problematic" that the airline "changed rules in the middle of a flight."

Heasley said she has been in touch with ACLU lawyers in Seattle, and wants Southwest to reimburse her for the last leg of the trip.

 

[Dismantled]

Good...I am sick of vulgarity becomming ok in our society.

 

[deep]

it is a nice t-shirt

 

[BVS]

Paranoia runs deep

 

[Angela Harlem]

Does this airline issue the rules which state they can deny access to any passenger with lewd, obscene or patently offensive clothing? If so, she should suck it up. Her fault.
The can of worms is defining what is considered lewd, obscene or patently offensive though. Clearly she didn't feel it was, so whose terms do you use to define that?


Love this, though:

"Here we are trying to free another country and I have to get off an airplane ... over a T-shirt. That's not freedom."

Where do you find these stories, Mrs S? I love your threads!

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Is that the t-shirt she wore deep? Where's Condi?

I'd rather see that on a flight any day than put up w/ drunks, screaming kids, over the top makeout sessions, and people w/ bo. That's more offensive to me

Thanks Angela they're usually on Yahoo news or www.breitbart.com ..usually it's under "odd news" "most popular", that sort of thing

 

[Dismantled]

Does this airline issue the rules which state they can deny access to any passenger with lewd, obscene or patently offensive clothing? If so, she should suck it up. Her fault.
The can of worms is defining what is considered lewd, obscene or patently offensive though. Clearly she didn't feel it was, so whose terms do you use to define that?


Love this, though:



Where do you find these stories, Mrs S? I love your threads!

I consider the work "Fucker" on a shirt obscene and offensive.

 

[deep]

I consider the work "Fucker" on a shirt obscene and offensive.

if you can
work it on a shirt

i consider that
quite resourceful

 

[Dismantled]

how so?

 

[deep]

Is that the t-shirt she wore deep? Where's Condi?

maybe she has her husband's back

 

[deep]

how so?

just kidding you

i thought you mis-spelled word



i do think red-staters would have been equally offended if it said "Fockers"

which would have been more clever, imo

 

[indra]

I'm astonished people really noticed and complained.

I wouldn't give a flying fuck as I don't really care what other people wear. Seems to me a pretty petty thing to complain about.

 

[mucho traffico]

ive seen their show airline, southwest are like the beer police. oh you had a drink, you cant fly. no way id fly that crap. maybe it made the tv filming. trying to boost the ratings like cnn

 

[Celticfc]

free speech anyone?

 

[U2democrat]

I saw that shirt in the mall recently...I almost bought it. I figured I'd rather spend my money on food and CDs.

 

[For Honor]

it is a nice t-shirt

Hmm... I'm really split by this.


Initially, I would say "come on, what is the US turning into, Communist?" It seems like everywhere someone is getting "offended".

But then... the lady is responsible for her actions. Anyone and everyone should know about 9/11, about people being ancy, and the airline agencies not "flying so high" when it comes to making money - they can't afford major lawsuites...... again........


So really, I don't know.



It's not exactly like wearing a Red Sox shirt into Yankees stadium... but almost. And since we are "delicate" in that we can only say certain words on general TV (but anything on public radio... which irratates me)...

I guess the law of the land is the law at hand.
I, personally would never wear that shirt in public, unless I wanted to ruffel a bunch of feathers or I knew someone who would really get a kick out of it.

But on an airplane?


I say she is in the wrong.

 

[zoney!]

I believe that is the T-shirt...or one that is similar.

My question....how did the sweatshirt "slip"?

My feeling is that people are way over reacting to this.

ive seen their show airline, southwest are like the beer police. oh you had a drink, you cant fly. no way id fly that crap. maybe it made the tv filming. trying to boost the ratings like cnn

Guess what? This is EVERY airline. If you are overly intoxicated...I do not want you on my plane! You are a danger to not only yourself, but every other passenger stuck in this flying steel tube. Add to the fact that you become even MORE dehydrated when flying, that you quickly become a health risk.

I have denied people before. And I will do it again.

 

[Angela Harlem]

What do you mean, how did it slip? She might not have been very reclined in her seat, and while asleep, it could very well have slid onto her lap.

 

[DrTeeth]

Some people are so easily offended it's a miracle they even make it outside without getting a heart attack.

 

[zoney!]

What do you mean, how did it slip? She might not have been very reclined in her seat, and while asleep, it could very well have slid onto her lap.

I am not sure about Aussie planes...but seats don't really recline so much that a sweatshirt could "slip" - if you put the sweatshirt on....it should not "slip"!

Again...people are way over-sensitive.

 

[blueeyedgirl]

If people are still getting offended by the word "fuck" in 2005, then noone should come to Australia!

 

[beegee]

Guess what? This is EVERY airline. If you are overly intoxicated...I do not want you on my plane! You are a danger to not only yourself, but every other passenger stuck in this flying steel tube. Add to the fact that you become even MORE dehydrated when flying, that you quickly become a health risk.

I have denied people before. And I will do it again.

and to that, i say

i was flying non-rev once, from los angeles to new york. in dallas, another non-rev passenger that we were flying with - an employee of the airline - became intoxicated and also took a handful of prescription medication. halfway to new york, she was completely out of control in first class, flashing the other passengers, yelling at the flight attendant and pounding on the window. she was unpredictable, and i have never been so absolutely terrified in my entire life.

we landed and the rest of us de-planed while she was held back. she not only lost her non-rev privileges that day, she lost the opportunity to ever fly that airline again, and her job.

i think she should have been arrested.

i say bravo to any airline who strictly enforces their intoxication policies.

 

[zoney!]

what us non-rev?

Yikes...bad move on her part!

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

and to that, i say

i was flying non-rev once, from los angeles to new york. in dallas, another non-rev passenger that we were flying with - an employee of the airline - became intoxicated and also took a handful of prescription medication. halfway to new york, she was completely out of control in first class, flashing the other passengers, yelling at the flight attendant and pounding on the window. she was unpredictable, and i have never been so absolutely terrified in my entire life.

we landed and the rest of us de-planed while she was held back. she not only lost her non-rev privileges that day, she lost the opportunity to ever fly that airline again, and her job.

i think she should have been arrested.

i say bravo to any airline who strictly enforces their intoxication policies.

Shit, bg...

 

[randhail]

If you go to Fenway Park or Yankee stadium, you are not allowed to wear such fine shirts as Yankees Suck or Jeter sucks A-rod so it's not uncommon for this type of thing to happen.

Airlines are within their right to turn people away for wearing offensive articles of clothing. I'm surprised that the airline did not ask her to remove the shirt or at least turn it inside out - which is what happened to a friend of mine wearing a Yankees Suck shirt in NY.

Some may consider it a free speech issue but it's also just a general respect issue.

 

[beegee]

free speech only applies if you aren't breaking any rules or violating any policies.

my daughter was sent home from school last year when she wore a shirt that read "school sucks." was her right to free speech violated? no. she was actually breaking a section of the school's dress code policy stating that rude or disruptive logos are not permitted.

if the airline has a similar policy, then they had every right to boot her.

 

[nbcrusader]

That shirt would get her kicked out of many establishments. At least in the US.

 

[BluRmGrl]

Although I find the word vulgar, I use it in friendly, private conversations much more than I should.

To me though, there's something different about vulgar words being printed on shirts for all to see. Just like I find it offensive to be subjected to a stranger's foul language in say, an elevator or a restaurant, the same stands for shirts with vulgar words/terms on them.

Maybe it seems hypocritical, but I see it as a public versus private issue. What's acceptable amongst friends in private conversations or the confines of one's home isn't necessarily acceptable in public & I see it as a matter of respect not to subject perfect strangers to what I know is still consider by society at large as a social no-no.

*rambles on wondering if she's making any sense*

 

[packcrush]

Yes, because we all know that people who hijack planes wear those t-shirts. . .

 

[verte76]

That's not a very nice T-shirt but I think kicking her off the flight is excessive.