Peanut Allergy Sufferer Files Suit against Airline

Alisa Gleason is a resident of Sacramento, California and has a severe peanut allergy. In preparation for a trip across the country, she contacted United Airlines to discuss her issue and she was assured that there would be no problems.

Gleason and her family were taking a trip to Disneyworld and it was on the return home when she had a brutal allergic reaction that caused the plane emergency land in order to treat her. She successfully traveled to Florida, but the conduct that she received from the airlines was not reassuring.

When Gleason spoke to the airline before her flight, she was assured that peanuts will not be served on the plane as it does not provide them anymore due to allergies. She requested to make an announcement before the flight as passengers’ actions are not monitored. At that time, the airline said yes.

She was then alerted once she was already on the plane that there would be no announcement. They continued to assure Gleason that she would be just fine, but she was nervous the entire flight. Fortunately the trek caused no harm to her; but the flight back would be less accommodating.

The flight attendants treated her family with annoyance more than anything else because they were holding up the traffic. Her request to have an announcement made was once again denied; and they even questioned Gleason and her husband on her condition, asking if they are sure that it is not just anxiety. And like the attendants before them, they told her that nothing would happen and that she would be all right.

About half way through the flight, a woman sitting a few rows from Gleason began eating peanuts. Immediately she felt her lungs fail and she could not breathe. She used an inhaler, medication, and was eventually given oxygen; but those small fixes were not solving the issue.

The plane then had to execute an emergency landing in Missouri and Gleason spent two days in the ICU there.

James Gleason, the victim’s husband, is haunted by what the peanut-eating passenger told him after the incident and it is what drives the family to file the lawsuit. She said, “If they would have said something, I never would have opened these; how come somebody didn’t say something?”

The details of the lawsuit have not been made public yet; however, Gleason certainly has a right to damages. If she arranged everything assuring her safety beforehand then the airline should have accommodated her requests. If the plane had not been able to land as it did, Gleason likely would not have made it. The airline knowingly put her in danger, despite guaranteeing to her that all precautions would be taken.