An Israeli couple is suing United Airlines after their 6-year-old daughter suffered burns and “deformities” after a hot meal slipped off a defective tray table on a flight to Newark.
Michal Fefferman and her daughter, identified only by her initials OF, were flying from Tel Aviv to Newark in July 2022 when a flight attendant handed her mother a meal tray, according to the complaint.
Pfefferman claims she placed hot food on a folding table, which caused it to slide off and cause the child to burn.
“While meal trays should have provided a level surface on which food and drinks could be placed safely, such as the meal tray in question, this particular tray table was defective and the OF was unable to sit on it. “He was leaning downward toward his seat,” the lawsuit states. state.
“The contents of the food on OF’s meal tray were unreasonably hot, and OF suffered severe burns,” the report states.
Pfefferman asked for “immediate treatment,” but flight attendants allegedly failed to provide it. “A contributing factor was that United Airlines did not equip the aircraft used on this flight with the appropriate medical supplies needed to treat burn injuries.”
According to the lawsuit filed by Fefferman and her husband Ben in U.S. District Court in Chicago, the girl “suffered extreme discomfort for the remainder of the 12-hour flight.”
Her family claims she is “scarred and disfigured.”
The lawsuit alleges the airline failed to serve meals at “reasonably safe temperatures,” failed to serve “child-friendly” meals, checked food temperatures, and maintained tray tables. He accused the company of multiple mismanagement.
The parents also claim that United failed to properly train flight attendants to deal with burn injuries.
The lawsuit alleges “her past and future injuries, burns, disfigurement, scarring, discoloration, neurological damage, disability, pain, suffering, mental anguish, emotional distress, inconvenience, humiliation, embarrassment, and loss of capacity. It seeks “non-economic damages.” Enjoy the life she has had and/or will continue to have in her past. ”
The Pfeffermans requested a jury trial for more than $75,000 in medical bills and damages.
The couple is claiming negligence and liability under the Montreal Convention, an international treaty that holds airlines liable for injuries unless they can prove the passenger was at fault.
A representative for United told the Post: “We cannot comment on pending litigation.”
