Texas man booted from first class for service animal is suing: ‘I felt less than a dog’
A Texas man is suing American Airlines after he alleges he was removed from his flight because he complained of being booted from his first-class seat in precedence of a service dog.
Dana Holcomb is also suing for racial discrimination.
Holcomb said he was headed home to Austin after celebrating his 53rd birthday in Las Vegas in a video interview with KXXV.
When he boarded his flight, he ended up seated next to a female passenger with a service dog. Holcomb told the outlet his eyes and face “began to fluster” and the woman inquired if he was allergic to dogs. Once he explained that he was, she asked other passengers if they would be interested in switching, however, they were not.
Next, the captain and flight attendant stepped in.
“He (the captain) began to become really irate because he insisted that I go to that seat,” Holcomb told the outlet.
The seat Holcomb is referring to was seated outside of first class.
After the alleged dispute, another first-class passenger stepped in and offered to exchange seats with the woman and her dog, but the pilot and airline staff, according to KWTX, had Holcomb removed from the plane, citing he was being “confrontational.”
On Wednesday, Holcomb and his attorney, Reginald McKamie, Sr., held a press conference outlining the details of the April incident and called the actions of the airline discriminatory.
“What American Airlines is doing is discrimination,” McKamie, Sr. told KWTX. “They have repeatedly humiliated African-American citizens by throwing them off the plane, leaving them with no way home, no hotel, just throwing them off the plane.”
In an e-mail to McClatchy news group, American spokeswoman LaKesha Brown said, “American makes every effort to accommodate all passengers, including those traveling with and seated near service or support animals. In the case of an allergy, we work to reseat a passenger further away from the service or support animal.”
Service animals have certain protections in regards to travel by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Dallas Morning News reported. Allergies are also outlined and protected.
“To be honest, it made me feel less than a dog,” Holcomb told KXXV.
This story was originally published August 30, 2019 at 3:57 PM.