Expert: Lee Meyer - 3/12/2008

Question
Two months ago I was forced to sit next to a passenger carrying a small dog under the seating area.  I love animals but, I'm very allergic to them.  20 years ago I choose to take medication in order to keep my dog, I developed a serious 2 years allergic reaction which later led to permanent asthma.  I have no medical coverage and is paying out of pocket for my daily Albuterol treatment and allergies shots.  From he airport I was rushed to a nearby hospital spent 2 days and now I'm responsible for that bill.  The airline did not inform me of animals on the flight and decline to assist with my bills.  HELP!!

Answer
Hi Avril,

I'm not a lawyer so I can't really tell you one way or another worth anything.  You probably need to find an attorney that specializes in airline lawsuits (ie that takes cases for airline customers that are injured directly because of something that happens/does not happen on a flight).

I think the fact they didn't tell you about animals on the flight is because they generally do not know medical problems their customers have unless the customer discloses them to make the airline aware of them, and second, the airlines that do allow certain animals to fly in the passenger sections generally make it known they do allow small pets in carriers to fly with their owners (it is one of the main reasons some people only fly certain airlines).  Third, I do not believe their booking systems are set up to analyze whether someone with an animal allergy is sitting next to another passenger with an animal.  It would be impossible to do so for people who get any leftover seat on a stand-by ticket or last minute purchase, or for people who decide at check-in to change seats.

Things you'll need to let your lawyer know:

- did you alert staff of your condition when you saw you were next to an animal?
- did they make any attempts to help you once they knew of your severe problem?  If so, what attempts/solutions were offered?

These kinds of things will be critical because if they didn't know from you about your situation they would have no way to have known to offer you assistance/choices like switching seats and moving away from the dog, etc.  If they did know and did nothing, then in my amateur, non-attorney opinion, I believe there is liability (I don't know if partial or total liability) on their part for your medical bills.  

I hope you are feeling better and wish you the best.  If you are low on funds, there are many attorneys/law groups who work on cases for people who have limited or no funds to hire legal representation and go after damages.  The fact that all you're looking for is medical bills to be covered, and your legal costs (if any) to be covered, and you're not concerned about 'sticking it to them for all they've got' will make you appear much more reasonable and sincere in your efforts.  The fact you also tried to get them to cover damages and they rejected it, before thinking about going to court, shows a good-faith effort on your part to avoid going to court, to try to settle this out of court.  But since they turned that offer down, you had no choice but to go to court.

Lee