Bride sues American Airlines for air stewards 'deliberately destroying' wedding dress

Alice Sholl
·Contributor
She’s seeking damages of more than £58,200 for both herself and family members [Photo: Pexels]
She’s seeking damages of more than £58,200 for both herself and family members [Photo: Pexels]

In the days running up to your wedding, something terrible happening to your dress is one of the worst disasters imaginable.

Which is why in August 2015, when bride-to-be Yewande Oteh flew from Philadelphia to Montego Bay in Jamaica for her ceremony, wanted to keep a sharp eye on her gown in transit.

But she landed with her wedding dress totally ruined, and is now filing a $3.4m (£2.6m) lawsuit against American Airlines for an air steward allegedly “egregiously” destroying her wedding dress – and the airline failing to adequately investigate.

The flight nightmare to end all flight nightmares [Photo: Pexels]
The flight nightmare to end all flight nightmares [Photo: Pexels]

According to her story, she asked if she could hang up the dress on the plane, but when her request was denied she had to put it in overhead storage in First Class instead.

Oteh said that while she was sitting in economy, she tried to keep an eye on the dress, which is when she says she saw a flight steward called Melanie Masters and another attendant open the storage hatch at some point during the flight.

And when they landed, Oteh realised her wedding dress was stained with red wine.

The flight attendant does not agree with the account [Photo: Pexels]
The flight attendant does not agree with the account [Photo: Pexels]

According to The Independent, the lawsuit said: “It was her belief that the flight attendants were placing something in the bin and making fun of [Oteh] and her wedding gown.”

She was apparently – understandably – “devastated” and is seeking damages of more than $75,000 (£58,200) both for herself and the four family members that were on the flight with her for the “sustained and continued emotional and physical distress”.

American Airlines released a statement saying they “are reviewing the lawsuit” and Masters, meanwhile, says Oteh’s description of the event is inaccurate: “It really didn’t go like that at all.”

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