Southwest Airlines is facing a lawsuit from a passenger who claims she was abandoned in an airport bathroom by a staff member who was supposed to be assisting her. The incident has left the passenger, a wheelchair user with a severe anxiety disorder, traumatised, the complaint says.
Mary Lynn Ellison, 64, had booked to fly with Southwest on 11 February 2024, from Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport. She had requested wheelchair assistance, which was confirmed and printed on her boarding pass, but which Southwest employees “refused to provide,” the court filing states.
The complainant was “left standing and then forced to sit on the terminal floor,” even though she “needed water and access to medication.” The “failure to provide assistance” put the passenger at “immediate risk of a panic episode and functional breakdown,” the complaint says.
Ellison was eventually assisted with a courtesy cart, the court papers continue, but she was again abandoned after she asked to use a restroom, leaving her “in a vulnerable state with no reliable means to return to the gate.” She was finally rescued with only 10 to 15 minutes to go before boarding.
Since the incident, Ellison has experienced “sleep disruption, ongoing hypervigilance and worsening avoidance of air travel, consistent with trauma responses,” the filing notes, with “worsening symptoms” that have “required additional clinical care and therapeutic support.”
In response to her complaint, Southwest had offered Ellison a $150 travel voucher but had not recognised its responsibility, the filing said, and instead had tried “to minimize and deflect” the blame, with “conscious indifference” to her “rights, safety, and welfare by refusing, delaying, mishandling, and abandoning.”
Ellison maintains that “Monetary damages alone are inadequate to eliminate the risk of future harm,” and therefore she is seeking an injunction to oblige Southwest to put into place “reasonable policies, training, supervision, and handoff protocols to ensure that requested assistance is prompt, coordinated, and not abandoned during connections.” She is also seeking damages for emotional distress, medical and treatment expenses, and to cover legal fees.
The US Department of Transportation enforces the legal frameworks around passenger rights, including accessibility and what passengers with additional needs can expect. Under the Biden administration, moves were made to tighten airlines’ and contractors’ obligations but the fines issued have since been deprioritised by Trump officials. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has written down an $11.9 million fine against American for violating disability rules and mishandling thousands of wheelchairs, and said the department will focus on compliance not deterrence, going forward.
