A Southwest Airlines (LUV) cabin crew member sued her employer for over $3 million compensation claiming that the airline may have been responsible for her husband’s death.
In the lawsuit to the U.S. District Court in Maryland, the flight attendant claims that due to the relaxed Southwest Airlines COVID-19 precaution measures during a mandatory cabin crew training in 2020, the cabin crew member Carol Madden’s (69) husband (73) was infected by the virus and died later.
According to the court’s documents filed by the flight attendant, she attended a mandatory one-day cabin crew training at Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI). Her husband drove her home and a few days later he was tested positive for the virus which later resulted in his hospitalization and death from pneumonia.
Speaking to local media on April 28, 2021, the flight attendant outlined that she had been tested positive and had passed on the virus to her 73-year old husband due to the airline’s lax COVID-19 protocols. Although the Southwest Airlines (LUV) employee continued to fly during the pandemic, she was convinced that if the airline had applied the same health safety protocols for the staff during the training as it did for passenger operations, the death of her husband would have been avoided.
Although the airline asked the staff to wear face masks, the flight attendant blames the airline for not screening the cabin crew and instructors before or during the training. In the lawsuit to the court, she also claims that no hand sanitizer was supplied and none of the training equipment, including fire extinguishers and megaphones, were sanitized between uses. The airline is also accused of not ensuring a safe distance between participants of the event.
Meanwhile, Southwest Airlines (LUV) expressed sympathy for the flight attendant but denied allegations arguing that it created a safe working environment for its employees in accordance with recommendations of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.