My complaint:
During the holidays my family had a tragic death in the family that required my attendance for an important religious ceremony that is essential in our faith. I needed to book a flight with your airline to attend the services but was barred from doing so because of a disability I suffer from. Your airline does not allow passengers with disabilities to fly and is actively forcing them into extreme self harm by forcing disabled individuals to wear a mask who cannot for medical reasons.
I have virus immunity and pose no virus transmission threat to myself or others and here’s why. I had the virus months back and I’ve been monitoring my antibody response carefully with a company Aditxt. My antibody response was tested at 15x what a vaccine will give, I’ve had all of my antibodies measured and i have antibodies against multiple proteins of the virus so i don’t have to worry about the mutations because I’m immune against multiple aspects of this virus. If you look at the spike protein, which is what the vaccine is directed at the average response is at 15,000, I’m around 180,000 so orders of magnitude greater response to immunity. Despite this I’ve still took extra precautionary measures and was in a group able to receive the vaccine which now also gives blanket immunity from getting or spreading this virus as well.
According to CDC and WHO guidelines, the groups your company says they are basing their restrictions on, I’m already in a category of people who should NOT wear a mask anyway. I’ll quote the current related guidelines
Masks should not be worn by
-Anyone who has trouble breathing
-Anyone who is unconscious, incapacitated or otherwise unable to remove the mask without assistance
-Wearing masks may be difficult for some people with sensory, cognitive, or behavioral issues. If they are unable to wear a mask properly or cannot tolerate a mask, they should not wear one
Therefore you are breaking CDC and WHO guidelines and putting disabled people at extreme danger. I have been advised by my doctor and medical professionals NOT to wear a mask in all settings due to my disability and your company is attempting to supersede my medical teams advise and put me in danger, you’re offering zero accommodation. This is discrimination and a direct violation of Air Carrier Access Act of 1986 (ACAA) and the ADA, specifically §382.19(a), which states that carriers
“must not refuse to provide transportation to a passenger with a disability on the basis of his or her disability.”
Although airlines are permitted to refuse disabled passengers who pose a “direct threat” to the health and safety of others, they are required to conduct an “individualized assessment” of each disabled passenger to consider the following:
The nature, duration, and severity of the risk;
The probability that the potential harm to the health and safety of others will actually occur; and
Whether reasonable modifications of policies, practices, or procedures will mitigate the risk.
Blanket bans like yours are not permitted by the ACAA and fail to consider a number of circumstances that would result in a passenger being deemed a non-threat, such as a negative COVID-19 test or self-isolation prior to travel, both of which I have also done.
I demand immediate change of this discriminatory policy and for you to make right the harm you’ve caused me by barring me from travel to the most important religious ceremony at end of like my faith has. I’ll be forced into further legal action if this matter is not ly settled.
Caleb Howard
Calebhoward31@gmail.com
8054072762
Suggested solution:
Change of policy, pay damages
