Man Sues Delta For Needle In Seat Pocket That Made Him Take HIV Test, Medication For A Year

A passenger has sued Delta Air Lines for a needle left in a seat pocket that pricked him and forced him to take HIV tests and medications for a year, TMZ reported late Monday, citing the lawsuit. The latest filing comes amid several other controversies the Atlanta-based company has faced in recent months.

In the court document, Gabriel Ybarra claimed the incident occurred when he was flying from Los Angeles to Atlanta in 2015. Ybarra said he reached into the seat pocket to grab his wallet when a stray needle struck his right middle finger. The finger started "bleeding profusely" when he tried to take the needle out, Ybarra said, adding that "his life flashed in front of him," the court filing read. It is unclear where the lawsuit was filed.

Read: Delta Air Lines Breaks Silence After Kicking Family With Babies Off Flight [WATCH]The document added that Ybarra went to a doctor following the incident and had to undergo several tests and take powerful medicines to ensure he did not contract any infection, especially HIV. The lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, alleges that Ybarra suffered months of dizziness, headaches, body aches and "explosive diarrhea" after taking the medicines. He also said he couldn't perform "his duties as a husband to his wife for months," forcing him and his wife to file the lawsuit.

Delta Air Lines has not yet publicly responded to the latest lawsuit.

Here are some of the recent troubles the airline has got into.

Delta held puppy hostage: Late May, a Minnesota woman claimed the airline held her dog “hostage” at a Guatemalan airport for 33 hours, demanding payment for the puppy before giving it back. Mary Nguyen said the airline refused to give her dog back until she gave them $3,000 to ship her German Shepherd, Bunny, to Central America. Delta said it was not their employees who held the dog but officials at the Guatemalan airport who were responsible for the incident.

Delta kicks family with babies off flight: In April, a couple traveling on a flight from Maui, Hawaii, to Los Angeles with their two children were kicked off the flight after they refused to forfeit the seat of their 2-year-old to another passenger.

Delta issued an apology, saying it had reached out to the couple to compensate them for the incident: "Delta's goal is to always work with customers in an attempt to find solutions to their travel issues. That did not happen in this case and we apologize."

Read: Is Delta Better Than American Airlines? Best Airlines In The World Announced By TripAdvisor

Delta Pilot Hits Passenger: A pilot for Delta was caught on video hitting a passenger at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport in April. At the time of the incident, the passenger was involved in a brawl with another woman when the pilot grabbed her by the arm and hit her.

“We became aware of this incident and a video last week and immediately removed the pilot from duty while we completed a thorough investigation,” a representative for the company said in a statement. The company in the statement defended the pilot saying, “Local law enforcement was called to respond at the time of the incident. The pilot has since been returned to work as our investigation found that his actions deescalated an altercation between passengers on the jetway floor during deplaning.”​

Delta Removes Passenger Who Needed To Urinate: A resident of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was asked to leave a Delta flight from Atlanta to Milwaukee on April 18 because he wanted to use the restroom urgently. “I’m not really clear on why I’m being asked to leave this plane. I purchased this ticket. I had an emergency. I had to pee,” Kima Hamilton is heard saying in the clip, which was taken by fellow passengers. “I tried to hold it the first time and you said I absolutely couldn’t and I’m being kicked off the plane?” he added.

“The pilot came on and said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, I’m sorry for the inconvenience but we have to return to the gate and remove a passenger.' It escalated to that point that fast,” Hamilton told reporters.