A California woman claims a JetBlue incident left her so stressed that her cancer returned shortly afterward.
Oksana Kiritchenko, 51, filed a lawsuit against JetBlue over the 2023 incident in which she was allegedly denied permission to fly first class with her French bulldog, who was providing emotional support.
She claims she was in remission from stage 4 cancer until shortly after the confrontation with an airline employee, as first reported by The independent.
The federal lawsuit alleges that Kiritchenko and her 71-year-old husband, Peter, were subjected to “an inexplicable level of cruel humiliation and ridicule” when they tried to return home from Florida last September.
The couple says they paid a total of $4,295.60 for two round-trip first class tickets and sent the airline the required forms for traveling with a service dog, but were not allowed to do so.
A California woman has accused a flight attendant of being rude and causing her so much stress that her cancer returned
Kiritchenko says everything went according to plan on their journey from Los Angeles to Florida, with dog Pier at their feet in a first-class duffel bag.
But as they prepared to board the flight back to LA, an airline employee approached the couple and asked if Pier could fly with them.
The lawsuit alleges that Peter has a “severe disability that prevents him from standing,” but the airline employee remained unfazed when told of the couple’s health issues and “remained… [them] to stand for a very long time.’
Ultimately, the employee informed the couple that one of them would have to give up his or her first class seat to fly with the dog, the lawsuit said.
The file states: ‘Plaintiffs had an urgent need to return home (Ms. Kiritchenko was a cancer patient and therefore needed to be available locally in Los Angeles for her checkups), so they agreed.
‘The claimants were boarded on the aircraft with Mr Kiritchenko in the first class seat and Mrs Kiritchenko in… economy class with their dog in its travel bag.’
As the plane prepared to depart, a flight attendant handed her a bag that was too small for the dog. The plane was then ordered to return to the airport and the couple was “thrown” off the plane.
The couple says they paid $4,295.60 for two round-trip first class tickets and sent the airline the required forms for traveling with a service dog, but were not allowed to do so.
The couple then had to wait for another flight the next day. They bought new tickets with Delta Airlines and booked a hotel room.
The lawsuit alleges that JetBlue caused the couple “undue financial harm” and accuses the company of negligence and violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Moreover, the lawsuit adds, “These events caused Ms. Kiritchenko extreme distress. Upon returning home, she checked herself into Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
‘The test results showed that the mean tumor molecule levels (‘MTM/ml’) had increased to 0.59. Several previous tests had shown test results of 0.00.’
The couple is asking for reimbursement of hospital and medical expenses, attorney fees and punitive damages to be determined by a jury.
JetBlue has not yet commented on the lawsuit. The company has 21 days to formally respond to the claims.