Passenger sues easyJet after crew told her to move seats to satisfy ultra-Orthodox Jews

[Floyd R. Turbo]

A British-Israeli woman is suing easyJet after the low-cost airline asked her to move seats on a flight from Tel Aviv to London following objections from ultra-Orthodox Jewish men who refused to sit next to a female passenger.

Melanie Wolfson, 38, is claiming 66,438 shekels (almost £15,000) compensation in a lawsuit filed on her behalf by the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC), which won a similar case in 2017 brought against El Al, the Israeli national carrier.

Wolfson, a professional fundraiser who moved to Israel 13 years ago and lives in Tel Aviv, is also asking that easyJet bans its cabin crew from asking women to switch seats because of their gender.

According to the lawsuit, Wolfson paid extra for an aisle seat on her flight last October. An ultra-Orthodox man and his son, who were sitting in the row when she arrived, asked Wolfson to switch seats with a man a few rows ahead.

https://apple.news/AgH7xEdWaSTmEIcxfbmRQBQ

[ExciteBike66]

1. Guess Mother doesn't let them sit near women...

Perhaps the two men should have bought three seats...

[hlthe2b]

3. Exactly. They want to make these demands, then let them PAY for it!

[Yeehah]

2. Religion is a blight on humanity

A hoax invented to create a power structure.

[malaise]

4. THIS

but not merely to create it - to sustain it

[frogmarch]

9. Yep. nt

[abqtommy]

17. +100 Spot on!

[lunatica]

22. It's the ultimate control mechanism

It relies on fear of the unknown. Actually it’s more than fear. It’s inculcated terror.

[StarfishSaver]

5. I wouldn't have minded moving to another seat as a simple courtesy

This is a little too snowflakey for me.

[Proud liberal 80]

7. What's the courtesy though?

Can you move because we don’t want to sit next to women? It would have been courteous if they asked her to move so that they could sit next to a family member, but not for the reason that they gave. If they had a problem sitting next to women then they should have bought the entire row.

[Celerity]

8. What if it was white nationalist MAGAts who told me to move

because I am part black? Would you call me a snowflake if I told them to go fuck themselves?

I cannot change my biological makeup, same as she cannot change her gender.

[yardwork]

12. What if they asked you to move because you were black?

What's the difference between being asked to move because you're a woman vs. being asked because you're black?

Should Rosa Parks have agreed to move?

[obamanut2012]

24. yup, no difference

[MrsCoffee]

19. Sorry, the snowflakes are the ones who can't handle sitting next to another human being.

Period.

[BannonsLiver]

20. The snowflakes are the ones who think everyone should kowtow to their religion

In public spaces, on airplanes etc. If they can’t handle it they need to find another mode of transport. The aircraft isn’t their house or their place of worship.

[Dr. Strange]

21. Exactly!

It's just a simple courtesy. No different than sitting in the back of the bus or using a different water fountain.

God damn snowflakes!

[obamanut2012]

25. well played

[obamanut2012]

23. bless your heart

not every woman wants to be treated like a second-class citizen.

[Celerity]

6. Hope she wins. Fuck their bullshit.

[Tarc]

10. fundies are knuckle-dragging morons, regardless of religion

Jew, Christian, Islam, no ground should be ceded to any of them.

[Phoenix61]

11. Amazing how some people think it is ok

to ask the woman to move but would flip the fuck out if the men didn’t want to sit next to a black person or an Arab person etc

[yardwork]

13. Sexism.

[obamanut2012]

26. including folks in this thread

[Oneironaut]

28. It's bc women are told to shut up and placate men.

This is especially true when religion gets involved. We have to inconvenience ourselves so that men don’t have their fragile feelings hurt.

We get this everywhere - on flights, in the workplace, in public, etc.

[dsc]

14. This is exactly what happens when one give religious people privileges to not follow generally

applicable law. In principle this is no different than if a Klan member wanted to make non white passengers move (after all the Klan had chaplains). This gets debated as being possibly OK while my hypothetical is rightly rejected as an insane thing to let happen. There is no principled difference.

[MineralMan]

15. Since she is originally from the UK, she should have told them

"Bugger off, you old sots!" when they demanded she move.

[Mr. Ected]

16. Since the ultra-Orthodox Jews were the ones making demands in derogation of women's rights

The woman should not have been the party moved, but rather, the radicals constrained by centuries-old and long-outdated dogma.

[eppur_se_muova]

18. This. nt

[crickets]

27. Exactly. Why was she expected to move?

I know the answer to that question, but still. The airline should have moved the men and left her alone.