Airlines Settle Suit in Death of 400-Pound Woman Denied a Seat

The husband of an obese woman who died shortly after being denied a seat on a flight back to New York City from Hungary has settled his $6 million lawsuit with the airlines involved, according to public court records.

Janos Soltesz filed a wrongful death suit again Delta, KLM and Lufthansa airlines in November 2012 in New York Federal Court. Vilma Soltesz, who weighed over 400 lbs. and as a result had an amputated leg, had been kicked off a series of New York-bound flights in Budapest’s Ferihegy International Airport between October 15 and October 22, 2012.

“Due to Vilma’s medical condition and weight, two seats were purchased for Vilma and one for Janos, for all of their flights,” states the original suit. The couple had no problems flying from New York to Hungary the month before, but several problems, including broken seats, prevented the wheelchair-ridden Vilma from getting to her home in New York.

According to the suit, Vilma started feeling ill earlier in the month and had even sought treatment at Veszprem Hospital in Hungary. “She was released and told that she could fly home, but to see her own doctor immediately upon arrival in New York,” according to the court documents.

The suit alleged that the stress of the flight maneuvers may have worsened her condition; Janos found Vilma dead in bed on Oct. 24, 2012.

The original suit claimed that “despite the fact that defendants were previously advised of Vilma Soltesz’s medical condition and weight, that they accepted same and issued tickets to her, they willfully and intentionally refused to embark her and/or forcibly disembarked her from the aircrafts.”

Bronx woman deemed too fat too fly died abroad after being denied flights http://t.co/snDx5mnP

— Huffington Post (@HuffingtonPost) November 27, 2012

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Source: NBC News