Disabled Michigan Passengers Sue Northwest
POSTED: Monday, April 14, 2008
UPDATED: 8:48 am EDT April 15,
2008
Five disabled Michigan residents claim they were mistreated and inconvenienced while flying on Northwest Airlines and traveling through Metro Airport.
A Roseville man, who uses a wheelchair for quadriplegia, said airport workers dropped him when he needed help and Northwest damaged his wheelchair.
A Detroit woman, who is blind, said she missed her flight because no one would help her check in until it was too late.
They and three others are taking the airline and the Wayne County Airport Authority to court claiming their mistreatment is against the law.
Farmington Hills attorney Richard Bernstein just filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Detroit claiming both Northwest and the Airport Authority failed to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Air Carrier Act and the Rehabilitation Act.
In 2006, Bernstein reached an out-of-court agreement with Northwest and the Airport Authority, but he claims they have failed to act on that agreement.
"Northwest is not showing appropriate care to people with disabilities,” replied Bernstein. And often, when “wheelchair users get to their destinations, their wheelchairs are either lost or coming back to them with some type of damage."
Northwest Airlines released a statement saying it is disappointed in the lawsuit.
The airline claims it has an industry-leading program for disabled fliers called the Customer Advisory Board.
A representative claims to have reached out to Bernstein and received no cooperation. Now, former Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer will represent them in court.
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