I understand Marty’s position, and again, I sympathize with his nephew. In fact, I sympathize with any child who has to suffer through this type of thing - what a crappy thing to have to grow up with.

I agree with you about it being a huge screw up on AA, but the reason I didn’t take that tack with the post is that we don’t really know what happened. All I really know is that this woman sued, and the basis she sued on.

She claims that she told the airline, but how do we know that’s true? The airline may have a different story. Did she tell the actual flight crew of the plane and get an agreement in advance of the flight and give them time to shift their plans, or did she wait until they were airborne before popping this on an unsuspecting flight attendant? Once they taxi from the gate, it’s a little bit late to change dining plans. Telling someone on the phone or at a ticket counter that your kid has an allergy is a lot different than telling someone who is physically on the plane too. For all we know, maybe the flight crew took her seriously, but discovered there was a doctor on board and when they consulted him, he told them the child would be OK if they served them. For that matter, maybe one of the flight crew has a severe peanut allergy and when the matter came up, he/she told the others it wouldn’t be a big deal.

Of course, that’s all just speculation, but that’s my whole point, I have no idea what really happened here, and I can only pass judgment on the piece that’s out in the open.

I probably would have had a different reaction if the airline admitted that completely disregarded her concerns and did this. Then I probably would have come down on them much harder than on her, but I still would have considered this an overreaction on her part. In fact, if I find out later that the airline admits it knew and didn’t care, I’ll update this post to give it to them too.

As far as the lawsuit goes, I won’t say that I’d be completely surprised if she gets anything, and I’ll admit I don’t know all of New York’s laws, but you usually can’t recover for emotional distress alone unless it’s intentionally inflicted, and since her son didn’t suffer an injury, we’d have to know a lot more about the story in order to determine whether she will or won’t get anything.

i don’t know what a lawsuit is going to solve in her son’s peanut allergy but if the mother advised AA about their flight and request that peanuts are not to be served but then AA changes their plans/minds and didn’t notify their crew, well, that’s a pretty big BLEEP up on AA’s part. but i don’t think it warrants a lawsuit especially if the son did not have a reaction to peanuts being served to passengers. although from what it sounds like the grounds for the lawsuit isn’t so much her son’s allergies to peanuts but that the mother claimed that she was tense and had a lot of anxiety during the flight. in which case, she may win because of mental distress.

but then again, if she really cared, she would / should have carried one of those epi-pens for emergencies because you never know what may happen.

and besides, this country loves to sue each other. this should be no surprise that this is even happening.

I’m sorry to hear about your nephew – my wife also had severe allergies as a child, and in fact, on our honeymoon, we had to go to the emergency room because she had a reaction to something, so I’m no stranger to allergies myself.

My point isn’t that allergies aren’t severe – my point is that you cannot protect your child from every hidden danger. I think this was a tremendous overreaction. You and I may never agree on that point, but let me ask a question – what if the flight crew had complied, but by some bizarre coincidence all of the passengers had decided to bring their own peanuts aboard anyway and eat them – what would be this woman’s recourse? Who would she be suing? Or suppose they complied and she rode while there was peanut residue in the air filters that she never asked about? Is she going to sue over that?

I agree that the airline did a pretty crappy thing, but a lawsuit? – That’s extreme. And certain lawsuit costs are factored in to the costs of tickets, but I can guarantee that no business contemplates every single remotely possible lawsuit into their pricing. That would be cost prohibitive; they’re factoring in more common complaints, not something this insane – the kid didn’t even have a reaction. You’re absolutely right about the rising cost of oil being the number one culprit – but these things also have an impact. Even if you’re correct that costs this remote are already factored in, which I disagree with, that still supports my argument that frivolous lawsuits increase your ticket price. If they’re already factored in, then they already have increased your ticket price, and if they went away, your ticket price would fall.

I mean let’s get a handle on things here – if she’s this paranoid about her kid, does she ever let him outside to play? I realize he’s only four, but a four-year-old child is not two. He can understand speech, and I bet he probably has some inkling that he has an allergy to something.

This situation is nothing like the allergy to milk that your nephew has. Milk is a liquid and is therefore more easily absorbed through the skin. As a liquid, it’s also harder to control and easier to spill. Peanut oil is contained inside the peanut and has to be pressed out, so you’re not going to get it in your system by touching a peanut or touching something that a peanut sat on, and again, I couldn’t find any cases of severe anaphylactic shock for this type of contact with peanuts – milk is a different allergy and may have a more severe reaction, but peanuts don’t appear to be as dangerous. Now, I’m no doctor, but we’re applying the common sense test here – if peanuts could kill you that easily, you would know about it, and you should be able to find it pretty easily with a Google search.

He could probably have a reaction if there was a big smear of peanut butter on the tray and he put his hand in it, or if there was peanut oil lying around, but he’s not in danger from pre-shelled peanuts in small snack bags that other people have. People aren’t throwing them around or smearing the contents of their bags on him.

This was an overreaction plain and simple, and I stand by that assessment. You’re welcome to think I’m a jerk, and perhaps if there is karmic justice out there God will give my children severe allergies, but at some point this kid has to learn to function in the normal world, and it can’t always be cleansed of peanuts.

My cousin has a serious tree nut allergy that has almost killed her a couple of times and my nephew has ridiculously severe allergy to milk. He can touch a surface that’s been wiped with a sponge but if there is even the tracest amount of milk on that surface and it gets on his skin he’ll start breaking out in hives, his nose will start pouring with snot and his tongue and his throat will begin to swell. If my sister doesn’t stab him with a shot of whatever-it’s-called and then take him to the hospital, it’s entirely possible that this miniscule contact with a trace amount of milk could literally kill him within 30 minutes. This is no longer all that unusual. There are TONS of these kids out there these days.

Strangers think my sister is crazy when she goes into a restaurant or a friend’s home and asks a variety of questions about milk. People tend not to take the allergy seriously (or they just think she’s a neurotic, over-zealous parent) and that has resulted, a couple of times, in massive allergic reactions and trips to the emergency room. It’s incredibly stressful and difficult for her. Having seen that, I can totally relate to why this woman was stressed out about the peanut thing, particularly when she appears to have really gone out of her way to do her due dilligence on the issue. A severe allergic reaction on an airplane would be an absolute nightmare.

But more to the point: Frivolous law suits have nothing to do with increasing ticket prices. Frivolous law suits have been built into the cost of your airplane ticket for a long time now. Ticket prices are rising for one reason only: The price of crude oil and the airlines’ failure to hedge their costs.

This post makes you seem like not just a moron but a callous moron.