A Nigerian woman of American and Jamaican descent whose wedding day suffered a mishap, has sued American Airlines after she alleged that the airline’s flight attendant deliberately destroyed her wedding dress while she was travelling for her wedding ceremony in August 2015.
In a 31-page lawsuit filed on behalf of Yewande Oteh by her mother in United States District Court, District of New Jersey on Tuesday, she claims she ‘suffered severe diarrhea, dehydration and depressive symptoms’ after a flight attendant went into an overhead bin and dumped red wine on her wedding dress.
She also claims that she remained ‘physically and emotionally ill over the next week’ and was unable to enjoy her Jamaican wedding, which took place back in August 2015.
Oteh was flying from Philadelphia International Airport to her destination wedding in Montego Bay, Jamaica, when the incident took place.
Court documents, obtained by the Courier-Post, reveals Oteh’s complaint that describes her ordeal began when authorities asked her to remove her gown from a checked bag at the Philadelphia airport. She said a ticketing agent told her that there would be room to hand the dress in the aircraft’s closet. However, after she boarded the flight, the Airline attendant Melanie Masters did not allow her to store her dress in the closet, saying that it was not for passengers to keep their items.
Masters “became indignant and agitated, and began to talk to the plaintiff in a hostile aggressive way, instructing her that the closet space was not for passengers,” the lawsuit claims.
Oteh was later told to store the dress in an overhead bin. Oteh, who was traveling with her then-would-be-husband and their 9-month-old son, saw the flight attendant reopen the bin while conversing with two of her co-workers.
“It was Oteh’s belief that the flight attendants were placing something in the bin and making fun of Oteh and her wedding gown,” reads the lawsuit, according to the Courier-Post.
When Oteh arrived in Jamaica she found that her dress was covered with wine stains. The incident made Oteh “emotionally distraught” and forced her to cancel planned events with her guests, the lawsuit claimed.
She then claims that she was forced to search in Jamaica for a new wedding dress and that her sister had to fly home to Florida to look as well, returning with gowns that were not properly fitted to her body.
Oteh’s mother, Yvette Sterling reportedly said: “American Airlines and its personnel robbed us all of this once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
The lawsuit is asking that Yewande, her lawyer husband Chidi, their then-nine-month-old son, her mother and attorney Yvette Sterling and her sister Dr. Kemi Fajolu each be compensated with $850,000 each of the four counts: Negligence, Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress, Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress and Negligent Hiring and Negligent Retention.
In a statement by the American Airlines they said they will be “reviewing the lawsuit,” but no other detail was given out.
Despite the whole drama, in one of her wedding photo below, she can be seen smiling in her white dress while holding a flower.
Photo: Facebook