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Woman gets kicked off American Airlines flight, seeks legal counsel

Posted at 8:55 PM, Oct 15, 2015
and last updated 2015-10-15 20:55:23-04

PORTLAND, Or. — An Oregon woman who was kicked off an American Airlines flight bound for Portland Sunday tells Fox 12 she’s still embarrassed about what happened, maintains she did nothing wrong and is now seeking legal counsel.

Tiana Fough was trying to fly home from Phoenix Sunday morning, but before her flight even took off, she said she ran into trouble.

Fough said she was boarding when a flight attendant asked her to stay in a row of seats so another passenger could stow her bag, but Fough didn’t hear him.

“He yelled at me, ‘Stay, stay right there,’ and I was like, ‘Okay,’ and he was like, ‘I asked you three times. Stay right there,'” she said.

She said the flight attendant threatened to kick her off the plane, but she made it to her seat and thought it was over – until another flight attendant who hadn’t witnessed the interaction told her she had to go.

Bill Byrne, who was sitting in the row behind Fough, captured that part of the interaction on cell phone video. It’s been viewed by more than 300,000 people online.

Fough said she waited four hours for the next flight to Portland and the airline offered her a $250 flight voucher or $250 cash, but she declined.

“My message to people is: if something happens to you that is humiliating that you feel like you were completely taken advantage of or someone mistreated you, that you get the help you need and you draw attention to it,” Fough said. “Because people shouldn’t just get away with it because they’re on a power trip and they’re bullying you.”

American Airlines released this statement to Fox 12: “We are in contact with the passenger and have apologized. We have addressed the issue with our team members to ensure we provide a consistent, quality travel experience for our customers in the future.”

Fough said she’d like to see the employee disciplined and is seeking legal counsel for compensation.