Massachusetts family says disabled son was discriminated against on JetBlue flight

By: Chloe Leshner

cleshner@abc6.com

@ChloeLeshner

DENNIS, Mass. (WLNE) — A Massachusetts family says JetBlue flight attendants discriminated against their disabled son on a flight out of T.F. Green, breaking the law in the process. They say the flight attendants didn’t allow him to use a special harness in the middle seat, which led to emotional and physical trauma.

Nicholas Whatley is finally recovering at home after a hospital stay his family says happened because of the way he was treated on a JetBlue flight.

"It’s heartbreaking," says Karen Clifford, his aunt.

Nicholas has a rare disability and is bound to a wheelchair.

The family was flying from T.F. Green to Disney World. Although Nicholas can’t communicate, a picture from the night before the trip says a thousand words, Nicholas couldn’t wait.

"We don’t know how much time we have with him unfortunately. Everything we do is to make sure that he has a good quality of life," says his father, Aaron Whatley.

But they say their vacation was ruined after a disastrous flight leaving Rhode Island.

"The flight attendant noticed that Nicholas had the vest so she proceeded to tell us that Nicholas wasn’t allowed to wear the vest," says Clifford

They have a harness to keep Nicholas seated comfortably on the plane. Although they had written permission from the FAA and doctors notes stating that it was necessary he use it in the middle seat, they say they were told repeatedly by the flight attendants they couldn’t.

"To prevent anymore drama, we tried the window seat and it was a fail. So we put him in the middle seat and he sat there for 3 plus hours with no harness," says Clifford.

That’s against the Air Carrier Access Act which clearly says airlines can’t keep anyone out of a specific seat on the basis of disability.

The Whatleys told JetBlue about the incident and were told in an e-mail response, "we’re not able to accept liability for this type of injury."

JetBlue representatives tell ABC 6 News they, "regret the experience of these customers."

They have offered to pay any medical costs not covered by insurance but that’s not what the family wants or needs.

"There’s laws there for a reason and we want to make sure that it doesn’t happen to anyone else," says Whatley.

(C) WLNE/ABC 6 2018.