Fri, Oct 07, 2005
Says She Was Kicked Off Flight Because Her Shirt Wasn't PC
If a picture is worth a thousand
words, then Lorrie Heasley's was worth 1003. But it was those last
three words that got her booted from a Southwest Airlines flight
from Los Angeles to Portland Tuesday and now, she's suing the
airline.
"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 in midflight over
a T-shirt. That's not freedom."
Heasley's t-shirt pictured President Bush, Vice President Cheney
and Secretary of State Rice. The caption read... well, something
very much like "Meet the Fockers..." only different by one
letter.
An SWA spokeswoman said the whole thing was about "decency,"
saying Heasley was taken off the flight in Reno, NV, because
airline workers were afraid other passengers would be outraged. She
was first given the chance to cover up the t-shirt, according to
the airline. Heasley denies that.
The rules on what you can and can't wear as a political
statement aren't exactly clear. Southwest's contract with the FAA
says the airline can deny boarding to anyone who is offensive,
abusive or violent. As far as dress is concerned, the airline can
refuse anyone whose clothing is "lewd, obscene, or patently
offensive," according to SWA.
The FAA's position: "It's up to the airlines who they want to
take and by what rules," FAA spokesman Donn Walker told reporters.
"The government just doesn't get into the business of what people
wear on an aircraft."
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