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A little girl’s parents want United Airlines to cough up $75,000 after she suffered burns during a flight. The incident reportedly happened in 2022, per PEOPLE. According to the lawsuit docs, the child was six when hot flight food caused “disfigurement.”
The family booked a United Airlines’ flight from Israel to Newark in July 2022. During the trip, United provided its passengers with “a tray containing a hot meal.” Michal and Ben Fefferman are accusing the airline of failing to maintain the aircraft after the child’s seat tray failed.
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In the lawsuit docs, which the Feffermans filed on Feb. 7, the child is only identified as O.F.
“Although the meal tray should have provided a level surface so that food and/or drinks like the meal tray at issue could be placed on them safely, this particular tray table was defective, slanting downward toward the seat where O.F. sat.” The docs add, “As a result of the defective tray table, O.F.’s meal slid off and landed in her lap.”
Because the food was “unreasonably hot,” per the girl’s parents, the child suffered “severe burn injuries.”
According to PEOPLE, a rep for United Airlines has refused to comment on the “pending litigation.”
Parents Say United Airlines Didn’t Have Emergency Tools For Burns
After the hot food burned the child, Ben says he immediately sought help from the airline staff. However, the father claims the flight did not have the proper medical tools to properly treat the child.
Therefore, the flight attendants allegedly “were unable to provide adequate care, partly because United did not equip the aircraft used for the Flight with reasonable medical supplies to treat burn injuries.”
O.F. is “now scarred and disfigured” after receiving minimal care during the 12 hours remaining in the flight,” the lawsuit said. The parents say United Airlines should accept more responsibility over the entire incident.
The parents say United Airlines’ duty was “to exercise reasonable care in the operation of the Flight, including the provision of food to passengers, access to safe and/or sturdy tray tables, maintenance of tray tables, access to medical devices and/or care for reasonably foreseeable harms, and/or to warn passengers of defective equipment such as tray tables.”
The parents plan to use the $75,000 to cover medical treatment for the disfigurement. Such a payment will also aid with the girl’s alleged “scarring, discoloration, neurological deficits, impairment, pain, suffering, mental anguish, emotional distress, inconvenience, humiliation, embarrassment, and the loss of ability to enjoy her life.”
It’s unclear if United Airlines will seek to settle or take the case to trial in a Northern Illinois courtroom.
Last July, another giant company agreed to pay a Florida family $800,000 after a 4-year-old was severely burned. The family initially sought $15 million from McDonald’s.
