JetBlue Severely Burned Woman's Butt With Hot Tea, Lawsuit Claims

A New York woman is suing after a flight attendant on a JetBlue flight allegedly failed to properly secure the lid on a scalding cup of tea. Michelle Lavin, 25, reportedly suffered second- and third-degree burns on her backside and claimed the airline served a beverage not “fit for human consumption” in the Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit.

The Manhattan woman filed the suit nearly three years after the 2014 incident, the New York Post reported Saturday, as she initially opted to avoid litigation. But Lavin claimed the airline treated her poorly both during and following the incident aboard the flight from New York to Las Vegas. She was flying over the Labor Day weekend that year to visit her older sister.

Lavin said the incident occurred while an altercation between two other passengers escalated to an extent that it frightened others on the flight. A man had shouted at a woman to keep her dog from barking, and the woman reportedly became heated as well.

“She just screamed,” Lavin said. “It was insanely loud, like a horror movie. I got very nervous and everybody turned around and it was frightening.”

While turning to see what was happening, Lavin reportedly bumped the tray table with her tea, which she described as “very hot” upon being served. It spilled on her, and she immediately screamed in pain.

“I was in excruciating pain and had tears running down my eyes and asked them to get me anything. Cream. Something!” Lavin told the New York Post. “They said, ‘We don’t have anything for burns on the plane.’ They were looking at me like I was insane.”

Lavin, a help desk manager, described the pain as being “unreal” but said that every time she stood, she was asked to sit back down. She was reportedly offered aspirin and ice, but Lavin maintained that both the flight attendant who served her the tea and another crew member weren’t taking her seriously.

At that time, Lavin pulled her pants down to show them the burns. A photo obtained by the New York Post shows Lavin’s backside blistered and burned to a deep red.

Both of the flight attendants were reportedly “horrified” by her burns and allegedly became much more accommodating after realizing the severity of the injury. Lavin said flight crew offered to have a stretcher waiting for her upon landing, but she opted instead to be taken to the emergency room by her sister. She said she was “humiliated” by the experience.

Thomas Lavin is representing his niece as her attorney in the suit. JetBlue declined the New York Post’s request for comment.

JetBlue is among the few airlines that have managed to avoid damning headlines currently slamming the airline industry for poor customer service, but the carrier is not without its own share of problems. In recent months, the airline has seen both passengers and crew being taken to the hospital or advised to seek medical care after reports of strange odors, headaches and burning sensations of the eyes during a slew of recent trips.