Mom files complaint, claims airline refused to accommodate son’s peanut allergy

A New Jersey mother is talking out after she claims United Airlines group of workers refused to accommodate her son’s “life-threatening” peanut allergy right through a contemporary flight.

Lianne Mandelbaum stated she, her husband and their son Josh had been touring house on March 13 from Texas, the place they’d been visiting a school, when she stated she approached a flight attendant to notify them of her son’s allergy.

“I went up to speak to the flight attendant and I said, ‘My son has a life-threatening peanut allergy. I would appreciate it if you could just tell the surrounding rows to be careful,'” the mother of 3 recalled to “Good Morning America.”

Mandelbaum, who additionally runs the meals allergy advocacy nonprofit No Nut Traveler, stated she’d made identical requests earlier than. During their preliminary flight to Texas a few days previous, she had a good enjoy, which she shared on Twitter, with different United staffers who accommodated her request to alert neighboring passengers of Josh’s allergy.

“I wasn’t expecting any pushback on the flight on the way home. In fact, I was approaching it with a very optimistic view and the opposite happened,” Mandelbaum stated.

Instead of addressing her fear and request, Mandelbaum claimed every other United staffer, who she stated mentioned they had been a manager, allegedly summoned her earlier than the flight takeoff and answered rudely.

“I went to go pull up [United’s] policy on my phone and she literally put her hand in my face like this and got close and she goes, ‘I don’t care what you’re going to say or what you’re going to show me. I’m telling you, this is not going to happen on this plane. So what are you going to do about it now?’ And at that point, I really did feel threatened that she was going to kick me off,” Mandelbaum claimed.

She stated she and her son felt embarrassed and her son requested her to let the request move after she returned to her seat, however the alleged enjoy stayed along with her and induced her to pay for Wi-Fi on board and tweet about it after the flight took off.

When contacted through “GMA,” United stated it’s “looking into this incident” and shared its allergy coverage, which could also be posted on its website. The coverage states that the airline “is committed to the safety of its customers, including customers with major food allergies” and does now not serve peanuts on flights however would possibly serve meals that might come with allergens.

United additionally says in its coverage that it can’t ensure an “allergen-free” atmosphere or limit passengers from consuming meals introduced onboard that may comprise allergens like peanuts, however that consumers can request “an allergy buffer zone” that incorporates notifying different passengers “seated nearby to refrain from eating any allergen-containing products they may have brought on board.”

Following her flight, Mandelbaum filed an respectable U.S. Department of Transportation grievance towards United on March 20 along with her legal professional Mary C. Vargas. The grievance, a replica of which “GMA” used to be in a position to download, claims Mandelbaum “was subjected to denial of accommodation, humiliation, retaliation, and intimidation because she disclosed her son’s food allergies and requested accommodation” and alleges United violated the Air Carrier Access Act and Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights.

Mandelbaum’s grievance additionally claims her alleged enjoy and others find it irresistible counsel “a pattern or practice of discriminatory treatment of passengers with food allergies and those who advocate on their behalf.” She is looking for a discovering that United violated incapacity discrimination regulations, a high quality and obligatory coaching for workers.

“GMA” additionally received a replica of the reaction that United filed after Mandelbaum’s grievance, which stated partly that Mandelbaum spoke with no less than two United staffers and “requested that other passengers be informed that her son had a peanut allergy.” The airline, in its reaction, has disputed one of the vital alleged details and “denies that the Mandelbaum family was subjected to ‘discriminatory treatment’ or that there is a ‘pattern or practice of discriminatory treatment of passengers with food allergies and those who advocate on their behalf.'”

Since opening up about her various reports whilst flying along with her son on United, Mandelbaum stated she has gained some on-line threats and damaging comments, together with one message that known as her a “selfish person.” She stated the dismissive responses have not deterred her from opening up, including that reports like this one have fueled her advocacy paintings for the decade.

“I’m trying to model for [my son] so that when he is an adult flying without us and going back and forth to college, that he models my behavior and he asks for things that are going to keep him safe. There’s no reason why his food allergy should stand in the way of him achieving any of his goals,” Mandelbaum stated.

“Despite what people say on social media, it’s not really suffering to go without your favorite snack for a couple hours or just be careful around someone who’s asked you politely. I mean, what kind of world are we living in where we can’t help someone that has a different health risk than we do? It’s just, it’s really upsetting,” she added.