Nigerian passenger sues United Airlines after she was ordered off plane for having body odour

NIGERIAN air passenger Queen Obioma has dragged US airline United Airlines to court in Texas claiming the carrier racially discriminated against her in removing her from her flight following a complaint by a fellow passenger that she had a pungent odour.

In the first such case of its kind involving a Nigerian, Ms Obioma was asked to alight from the plane at Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport. In her suit, Ms Obioma said she and her children were wrongfully kicked off a flight headed to San Francisco on March 4, 2016, during the second leg of a three-flight trip from Lagos to Ontario, Canada, where her kids attend school.

According to the lawsuit, Ms Obioma boarded the plane and found a white male passenger sitting in her assigned business class seat, from which he refused to move. When a flight attendant failed to resolve the conflict as the man continued to refuse to move to his own assigned seat, Ms Obioma agreed to take his spot.

She then went to the restroom before takeoff and returned to find the man blocking her from accessing the seat for several minutes. According to ms Obioma, a United Airlines member of staff, identified as Russel H, instructed her to step off the plane at this point, where she was informed by another agent that the pilot requested that she exit as the man causing trouble complained that she was pungent and he did not feel comfortable flying with her.

Shaken, Ms Obioma had her children removed from the flight as well and the family made their connection five hours later. A frequent flyer member of United’s Star Alliance programme, ms Obioma said the airline discriminated against her because she is black, African and Nigerian.

However, a United Airlines spokesman said: “We have not yet been served with this suit and due to the pending litigation involved in this matter, we’re unable to provide further comment.” Ms Obioma is seeking punitive damages and legal fees from the carrier.