Charlet Chung, an actor from Los Angeles, is suing WestJet for defamation in a California district court, claiming the Canadian airline conducted a ‘sham’ investigation into a viral TikTok complaint that amassed millions of views.
The viral videos showed Charlet’s clash with a ‘rude’ flight attendant on the WestJet flight to Winnipeg, after she stood up for herself against what she describes as an aggressive man sitting behind her.
Rather than helping Charlet, however, the flight attendant enlisted the help of her coworkers to make the four-and-a-half-hour flight a living nightmare for Charlet, leaving her embarrassed, in distress, and in physical pain.
The incident that unfolded on Flight WS1314
Charlet was traveling on WestJet flight WS1314 from Los Angeles to Winnipeg on October 28, 2024. After taking her seat in the front row of the Boeing 737 aircraft, Charlet claims the man sitting behind her started to “repeatedly and forcefully” kick her seat.
Chalet says the kicking was obviously intentional and when she peered through the seats to see what was happening, she alleges he began to taunt and verbally harass her, using threatening speech in an expletive-laden rant that ended with him telling her: “Oh, chill out, f**k off.”
@chihyechung See my full statement and account on my next post. This is @WestJet flight attendant Tricia. She and her crew threatened to offload and arrest me 3 times from the plane after I was cursed at by another passenger. What ensues for the next 4.5 hours was me being forced to move seats, then being isolated and harassed for the entire duration of this horrific flight. In almost 200 flights I’ve taken in the past 8 years, this Westjet crew and 2 passengers put me through the most distressing, dehumanizing experience I’ve ever had on a plane. This is the only footage I had because I was in fear. During the most aggressive moments, like when they were literally yelling at me, I was in shock and was too scared to film. What happened: During boarding, the man you see in the video was continuously hitting and pushing my seat for over 20 min. I’m in 1A and he is in 2A in back of me. I finally peeked between the seats to see what was going on but didn’t say a word and he spews out,“Oh just chill (then) FU*K OFF”. I responded by saying,“Excuse me? Did you just tell me to fu*k off?”Tricia comes over from the hallway to see what’s going on and I inform her about the man(thinking she would help me)Next thing I know, I’m being threatened to be offboarded and later, arrested. This was a 4.5hr flight of incessant abuse by the crew. The flight attendants’ relentless bullying was an agonizing experience. I was trapped. The most distressing part was not being able to stop them from talking to/harassing me while the passenger who verbally accosted me was free to do as he pleased and was fully protected. The panic attacks and flashbacks of feeling trapped and helpless on the plane and experiencing the PTSD from this aggressive crew and 2 passengers have not stopped. I have not been able to focus on anything since escaping this flight. @Westjet “Is this what you stand for?” Protect the man (who harassed me), put him on an untouchable pedestal then put me through a degrading, isolating experience for speaking up and asking for help as the victim? I will always stand up for myself (and others who may not have same voice I have) and I will not be silenced. Period. #westjet ♬ original sound – Charlet
Charlet snapped back: “Excuse me, did you just tell me to f**k off?”
It was Charlet’s response that caught the attention of a flight attendant, who waded into the situation. But rather than coming to help Charlet, the lawsuit alleges the flight attendant’s first reaction was to threaten to have her booted from the flight.
Chalet says she attempted to explain what had happened to the flight attendant, but to no avail. Sensing that she was getting nowhere, Charlet then got out her cellphone to record the ongoing exchange.
In response, Charlet says the flight attendant first attempted to get her to stop filming, but when that failed, she simply changed her tone to “appear reasonable” in front of the camera.
Charlet was made to sit in an alternative seat on the other side of the aisle, while the flight attendant made a series of “demeaning and embarrassing comments” to her so loudly that the whole plane could hear.
@chihyechung This is the full footage I have of Tricia speaking to the couple privately for the first time – 32 minutes after she spoke to me publicly in front of the whole plane
♬ original sound – Charlet
Once in the air, she claims the flight attendants refused to let her use the bathroom before it became obvious that if she wasn’t allowed to pass, then she would wet herself.
Another flight attendant then filled a cup of water so full that when she passed it to Charlet, it spilled all over her and her seat. She also claims the flight attendants were sarcastic and demeaning towards her, and threatened to have the police called to meet the plane on arrival.
What WestJet said in response to Charlet’s allegations
A week or so after the incident, Charlet shared videos of her interaction with the flight attendants, along with additional details of the incident on her TikTok page.
The videos went viral, with one video amassing more than 10 million views, and another 4 million views.
In a rare move, WestJet decided to publicly respond to Charlet’s videos, saying in a statement:
“At WestJet, we take accusations of harassment and discrimination very seriously. We conducted a thorough investigation into Ms. Charlet Chung’s claims regarding her experience on her October flight, and while we acknowledge that Ms. Chung’s experience onboard was not a positive one for her, based on the information provided to us, her allegations of harassment and discrimination against WestJet are unfounded.”
A key part of the statement, then continued:
“Contrary to what’s being implied in her recent public statements, WestJet has never instructed Ms. Chung to remain silent in any form or to refrain from discussing this matter online. At the same time, we have followed her direction since November to communicate exclusively through her legal counsel.”
The statement added: “We have been timely and respectful in our communications on this matter, and typically refrain from addressing allegations of this nature publicly. However, Ms. Chung’s most recent comments online warrant this clarification. We do not intend to discuss this matter anymore in a public forum, and it is unfortunate that Ms. Chung.”
Charlet accuses WestJet of a ‘sham investigation’
Charlet now claims WestJet conducted a “sham investigation” into what happened on Flight 1314 and used the results of this inquiry to publicly disparage her.
The 16-page legal complaint against WestJet says the investigation couldn’t have been thorough because the airline never even contacted Charlet for her version of events, and, as such, was nothing more than a “one-sided, and wholly unreliable” tool used to lie about her.
Defamation lawsuit filed in California district court
Charlet claims this press release was defamatory and has had a significant impact on her professional career. She is also making a claim under Article 17 of the Montreal Convention – an international treaty that makes airlines liable for accidents that result in injury or death to their passengers aboard a flight.
To make a claim under Article 17, Charlet says she suffered an injury when she was “physically” relocated to an alternative seat, refused the use of the bathroom, threatened with removal from the plane, and verbally harassed.
Bottom Line
Charlet filed her lawsuit in a California district court on Tuesday, claiming compensation and damages in excess of $75,000. WestJet has yet to respond to the complaint.
If this is found in her favor, oof- that’s not a good look. She was the instigator, she is the one who needed to repeat the f word so many times, nope little sister- you lose. This was a clear case of minority influencer chick making a scene for clicks.
Hope Ms Ching wins…I’ve been following her and what Westjet has done or not done is absolutely disgusting to let this FA get away with what she did and to the extent that westjet would defend such awful behavior. What a joke airline this is. All the holiday stuff they put on is a facade.