A deaf woman is taking on Frontier Airlines after accusing flight staff of kicking her off a plane for not listening to instructions. Earlier this month, the law student and TikToker posted a video showing parts of the incident, in which a flight attendant and gate agent battled over whether she should stay or go.
Frontier contradicted her version of these events.
Deaf woman says she was punished for not listening
On March 12, Ashley Grey (@legallyswiftie13) posted a video in which Frontier staff seem to argue with one another over whether she deserved to be kicked off her flight. The young woman cried in embarrassment and frustration throughout as her angry mother repeatedly pointed out her disability.
"Frontier Airlines kicked me off a flight because I’m deaf," the caption reads at the start of the clip. "What is the point of listing that you’re deaf on your ticket when Frontier refuses to accommodate?"
Grey's mom pointed out to a patient gate agent that her ticket included a notice that she's deaf. Other passengers claimed that Grey couldn't hear the flight attendant's instructions, and that's why staff apparently wanted to remove her. The TikToker maintains that this was the reason for the confrontation.
The gate agent appeared to be trying to advocate for Grey, but said, "It's out of my control," to a bystander.
According to the caption, "the flight crew doubled down" and insisted on her removal. In tears, Grey assured them that she would leave, but was upset because the rest of the passengers might think she broke the rules.
"It's so embarrassing," she says. "I didn't do anything wrong."
"It sucks being deaf."
Her mother, meanwhile, was incensed on her daughter's behalf.
"I'm so angry I can barely stand," she said.
There is currently a class action lawsuit pending against Frontier for allegedly discriminating against disabled passengers.
Frontier tells another tale
Frontier gave PEOPLE a very different reason for removing Grey from the flight. The company is backing the flight attendant, who claimed that "the passenger boarded with an open container which she admitted contained alcohol when questioned," and then "rapidly consumed the remaining alcohol in the cup before handing it over."
"Bringing an open container of alcohol on board violates both Frontier policy and federal law."
Frontier further claimed that Grey's ticket contained no indication of her disability. The TikToker and her lawyer say the flight attendant lied, and Grey can be heard saying the same about the staff member in the video.
"Frontier had a choice between accountability and attack," said attorney Andrew Rozynski in a press release. "It chose to go to national media with a fabricated alcohol story that every witness and the video itself contradict, and to publicly deny a disability that its own booking system and its own gate agent had already confirmed."
Grey and her lawyer asked for Frontier to retract its version of events and apologize by March 20. That date has come and gone with no word from the airline.
TikTok commenters widely sided with Grey and advised her to take legal action. After the video spread to Reddit, some came forward with similar stories minus the removal, calling Frontier's story into question.
"I walked onto a plane carrying a beer once because I was inexperienced and walked right past everyone with no attempt to hide it," said r/LifeAsASuffix.
"After they closed the door to the plane the flight attendant came directly up to me and informed me I was in violation of federal laws and made a rather large stink. I apologized and handed over the beer and that was the end of it."
"Yeah that is odd to me," wrote r/FalseStevenMcCroskey. "Like they stopped her because of the open container when boarding… then let her board and waited till later to tell her to leave? The order of events seems off."
The Daily Dot has reached out to Frontier Airlines and @legallyswiftie13 for comment.
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