A Hartford woman who injured her right elbow and right arm when a Caribbean Airlines flight attendant pushed a food serving cart into her arm has filed a federal lawsuit against the airline.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, says Julie Swaby Smith was sleeping in an aisle seat in the middle of the night during the June 2017 flight from John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City to an airport in Kingston, Jamaica, when the incident happened. Smith’s arm was resting on the armrest adjacent to the aisle, according to the suit.
The airline, the lawsuit says, was negligent and breached its duty because it failed “to properly train, supervise and monitor the flight attendants” under its care. In addition, the lawsuit says, the flight attendant was “moving the serving cart at a rate of speed and in a manner that was unsafe.”
Louis Flynn, Smith’s East Windsor-based solo practitioner, told the Connecticut Law Tribune Thursday his client, a nurse’s aide, suffered long-term consequences.
Smith’s job, Flynn said, requires her to administer at-home care to patients, who she lifts when necessary. But she remains unable to raise her right elbow, he said.
Smith’s doctor, her attorney said, recommended against surgery. Instead, Flynn said, his client takes cortisone shots to reduce the inflammation and anesthetic injections to lessen the pain. Smith, who also does physical therapy, has incurred about $20,000 in medical expenses, Flynn said.
“She is still in pain,” Flynn said. “It’s a process and these shots have helped her.” It’s not clear, Flynn said, when Smith will be free of the pain.
Flynn sued the airline for unspecified monetary damages under the “Montreal Convention.” According to the International Air Transport Association, the 1999 Montreal Convention establishes airline liability in the case of death or injury to passengers, as well as in cases of delay, damage or loss of baggage and cargo.
“What the airline should have done was have the flight attendant be more careful pushing the cart down the aisle,” Flynn said. “She didn’t look where the front end was when she was pushing it from behind. It was the dead of night, so I am guessing the lights were dim in the cabin, and she was pushing along and not paying attention. This would not have happened if the flight attendant was careful.”
The manager of corporate communications for the Trinidad-based airline is Dionn Ligoure, who referred all comment to the airline’s legal department. But the person who answered the phone in the legal department said the airline had no comment.
Robert Storace covers legal trends, lawsuits and analysis for the Connecticut Law Tribune. Follow him on Twitter @RobertSCTLaw or reach him at 203-437-5950.
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