A man has accused a Southwest Airlines flight attendant of assault after he sustained a bizarre injury to his arm when he dropped his hand luggage while trying to place it in the overhead locker on a flight to Las Vegas.
Michael Levesque of Fresno, California, suffered a ruptured bicep when he lost control of his rollaboard luggage while placing it in the overhead locker, according to court documents filed in a California district court last week.
The reason why Levesque lost control of his bag? He claims the unnamed flight attendant ‘screamed’ at him and moved towards in an ‘aggressive’ manner.
Levesque says the flight attendant’s actions startled and distracted him. As a result, he lost control of his bag and it started to fall. In an attempt to stop the bag falling onto other passengers, Levesque tried to hold on to his bag but ended up rupturing his left bicep.
It’s not known why the flight attendant allegedly shouted at Levesque.
Unsurprisingly, Levesque says he was left in significant pain and flight attendants initially tended to his injuries by proving him with a bag of ice. After this initial First Aid, however, Levesque says the flight crew never checked in on him and it was only after he made a complaint to a gate agent in Las Vegas did he discover that a report had been written by the flight attendant.
The lawsuit claims Southwest Airlines was negligent while accusing the flight attendant of assault and battery during the June 30, 2022 flight from John Wayne Airport.
Levesque says the airline should have known that the flight attendant was “unfit to be employed” and had “engaged in other similar acts of behavior which were indicative of a general propensity for committing future acts of violence.”
Along with the pain from suffering a torn bicep, Levesque suffered “extreme emotional distress including shock, anxiety, worry, depression, sleeplessness, mortification, humiliation, and indignity”.
Levesque is suing Southwest for an undefined amount in damages. The case is being tracked under case number: 8:23-cv-01320
Ridiculous. He should have his other bicep torn.