JetBlue Sued: Underwear Altercation Humiliates Malinda Knowles (1453 hits)

A financial consultant says she was kicked off her JetBlue flight after a supervisor demanded to know if she was wearing underwear, then allegedly stuck his walkie-talkie between her legs. Malinda Knowles, 27, is now suing JetBlue, the supervisor and the flight captain, seeking an unspecified amount for assault and battery, and emotional distress. "It's not easy for me to talk about," Knowles said.

Knowles, 27, had boarded a JetBlue flight departing New York's LaGuardia Airport for West Palm Beach, Fla., where her family lives. She flies to Florida several times a year, she said. That morning in July 2010, she left her home in Harlem at 4 a.m. to catch the 6 a.m. flight. She was wearing a pair of shorts, a large T-shirt (and yes, underwear), an outfit she says she selected, in part, because it was more than 90 degrees outside.

Everyone had boarded the plane, and Knowles was in her seat sipping orange juice when she said JetBlue supervisor Victor Rodriguez approached her, demanding to know "with a smirk" if she was wearing underwear. "He just came up to me and asked me … basically to show him what I had on, which would have required me moving the tray table and pretty much opening my legs," she said. "I didn't feel comfortable doing that." Knowles said she eventually lifted her tray table and then, Rodriguez -- who was holding a walkie-talkie -- allegedly "stuck the antennae in her crotch," between her legs, to see what she had on underneath her T-shirt, Knowles' attorney, Brian Dratch, told ABCNews.com.

Knowles told ABCNews.com she had never seen Rodriguez before, and had passed through all the security checkpoints at LaGuardia without any problem. Rodriguez allegedly called Port Authority police, and "had me escorted off of the flight in front of everyone," she said. They took her to the loading bridge, the passageway between the airport terminal and the plane, according to Knowles.

The police soon observed, "Oh, she has shorts on," Knowles said. Rodriguez, who is still working for JetBlue, declined to comment and referred ABCNews.com to his lawyer, JetBlue attorney Michael Carbone, who also declined comment because of the pending litigation. It's unclear, Dratch said, what Rodriguez's motive was, or even why he was on the plane. Dratch told ABCNews.com Rodriguez works at the ticket counter.

Knowles said the police told her they needed to file a report, but when she asked them why, they didn't give a reason. "So they have me go get my driver's license. I walk back on, and everyone is staring at me. They think maybe I'm a terrorist or something."

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Posted By: Jen Fad
Friday, July 29th 2011 at 12:03AM
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