A New York rabbi and his wife claim they were kicked off a JetBlue flight by “antisemitic” staff following a heated exchange over switching seats due to their religious beliefs.
Abraham Lunger and his wife, Miriam Lunger, were bounced from the Palm Springs-to-NYC flight on New Year’s Eve after the rabbi informed flight crew that, as an Orthodox Jew, he cannot sit next to a woman “unless she is a blood relative or his wife,” the February filing states.
During the incident, a male passenger offered to resolve the beef and sit next to the rabbi.
But instead of allowing the switch, a confrontation ensued between the Lungers and the flight crew, court papers claim.
The pilot allegedly said moving to another seat was a violation that would cause a “weight imbalance” on the plane, and told Lunger he had to get off the aircraft, the suit charges.
Lunger’s wife and Brucha Ungar, who was traveling with the couple, were also told to exit the plane, the suit says.
JetBlue recently filed a motion to dismiss the Manhattan Federal Court suit.
“JetBlue’s policy is clear: passengers may not occupy a seat other than the passenger’s assigned seat. Plaintiffs breached JetBlue’s contractual policy and were removed from the aircraft as a result. No other facts matter: Plaintiffs cannot maintain their claims — for discrimination or otherwise,” according to court filings.
Civil rights attorney Ron Kuby, who is no involved in the litigation, said it was a case of tough luck and not antisemitism.
“There is no constitutional right to avoid sitting next to a woman because of your religious beliefs …We have all ended up in seats that we don’t like on an airplane. This is not anti-semitism. This is life … the airlines industry,” Kuby said.
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The Lunger’s attorney, Evan Brustein, rejected JetBlue’s call to dismiss, telling The Post, “the JetBlue flight attendant and pilot kicked the plaintiffs off the flight, not because of seat assignments or weight imbalance but rather antisemitism and discrimination. It also appears that instead of addressing the racism and hatred of their employees, JetBlue has doubled down on hate excusing this conduct.”
Asked to weigh in on the controversy, famed attorney Alan Dershowitz, known for his work in constitutional law, opined, “There may not be a legal right to compel passengers to change their seats to accommodate religious needs. But there’s surely a legal right to not be taken off the plane if a passenger was willing to accommodate and the captain gave a pretextual reason for refusing to accommodate.”
Said a JetBlue spokesman: “JetBlue is proud to serve millions of customers each year from many different backgrounds. We do our best to accommodate our customers’ various requests while ensuring all customers are provided the experience they are expecting from JetBlue. Due to pending litigation, we will not be able to comment further.”
