by Donald Wood
Last updated: 4:51 PM ET, Mon May 11, 2015
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
Flying can be a stressful means of transportation for many passengers, but one woman from Crown Point, Illinois, is suing Austrian Airlines after the company reportedly broke her leg while trying to help her into her assigned seat last summer.
According to Teresa Auch Schultz of the Chicago Tribune, Mary Dordieski filed a lawsuit Thursday in the U.S. District Court in Hammond, Illinois, accusing attendants from her Austrian Airlines flight of breaking her right leg.
Dordieski was traveling with her mother, Svetlana, from Chicago to Macedonia last summer with a layover in Vienna, Austria. When the plane was forced to land in Toronto, passengers were moved to a new plane and she was assigned to sit in a standard seat, despite booking a bulkhead seat.
Dordieski has spina bifida that has resulted in the inability to bend her leg at the knee. The wheelchair-bound woman's mother informed the airline of the seating error, but officials told the flight crew to help lift the woman into her seat.
During the process, the lawsuit claims the crew broke Mary's leg while bending her into the seat.
While limited speaking abilities did not allow Mary to complain or report the injury immediately, the mother and daughter visited a doctor in Vienna after landing and the break in her leg was discovered then.
Dordieski and her family are seeking compensatory damages, including medical expenses, according to the Chicago Tribune. Austrian Airlines could not be reached by Schultz for comment.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
