LONDON (JTA) – A British-Israeli woman is suing the budget airline EasyJet for asking her to change seats on two separate flights because a haredi Orthodox man would not sit next to a woman.
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The lawsuit was filed last week on behalf of Tel Aviv resident Melanie Wolfson, 38, by the Israel Religious Action Center, a division of the Reform movement in Israel, Haaretz first reported.
The first flight took place in October on a flight leaving from Ben Gurion Airport for London. Wolfson told Haaretz that it was the first time as an adult that she “was discriminated against for being a woman.” A flight attendant offered Wolfson a free drink as an incentive to move. She ultimately made the switch out of fear that she would be responsible for delaying the flight.
The second request came two months later, also on a flight originating in Israel. Wolfson, however, refused to switch, and instead two female passengers switched with two haredi men and took the seats next to her.
Wolfson filed complaints after both incidents and received no response from the airline, which led to the lawsuit.
Several flight attendants on the first flight told Wolfson that it was common for the airline to ask women to switch seats for haredi men, Haaretz reported, citing the lawsuit.
Wolfson is suing based on an Israeli law from 2000 prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, religion, nationality, land of origin, gender, sexual orientation, political views or personal status.
EasyJet did not comment to Haaretz, citing the pending litigation.
disgusting deformed reform Jew who hates her own. She is just a symptom of the disgust that the reform make into their new form of Jew-de-ism…..
Yet if it was a Muslim man making the same request, she would gladly comply
Religious rights
SO wrong why is it discriminatory to women we don’t not like women or discriminate against them. We will give them first class seats and anything they want. For religious reasons we can’t sit next to them. The Frum world should sue the airlines for discriminating against their religious needs by not allowing them the choice to sit with men or with women. If I walk into a women’s bathroom and someone asks me to leave I should sue them. Do people still have any sense? I dream for easyjet to make a stink about this and get some really good lawyers and let the whole world know that this stuff is such garbage. She’s never been discriminated against? Really? Has she tried walking into a mens’ room or a mens’ locker room?
Asking someone to switch is illegal? Not forcing, not coercing, not compelling. Just asking.
Wow. How low can you go?
Why are airlines still doing this? Surely at this point there ought to be a well-defined policy on this.
Big friggin deal!
Nobody forced her to change seats. she simply could have politely refused , which she apparently did on the second flight except not so politely, and that would be the end of it.This is nothing but a big cash grab by another entitled person seeking a big payday and her 15 minutes of fame.
COVID in the air — Who wants to sit next to ANYONE??
If an airline is allowed such wide discretion that it can kick a mother and her six children off a flight – simply because the airline felt like it- it can also ask a person to switch seats.
Of course she shouldn’t switch seats if she doesn’t feel like it. But there is no harm. Just say “No, I’m not switching seats“ and go back to looking at your phone. Once someone asked me to switch to the middle seat from the aisle because he said he was “claustrophobic”. I told him “same as me, I’ll stay in the aisle”. I didn’t sue. He survived just fine.