Doctor Flying Southwest Tries To Go To Bathroom, Ends Up In Jail
A 65-year-old urologist, born in India but living in the United States for 38 years now, was flying from his home in Missouri to a medical convention in Las Vegas on June 26th, 2008. Did you notice that "born in India" detail? Apparently his attempts to go to the bathroom angered and frightened a flight attendant, who wouldn't tell Dr. Sivaprasad Madduri why he couldn't use the lavatory (the pilot was using it) and who wouldn't listen to Dr. Madduri's explanation that he was taking a medicine that acts as a diuretic. When the plane landed he was arrested, spent the night in jail, and was told the next day to plead guilty and pay $2500 if he wanted a quick resolution.
Southwest has since told Dr. Madduri, "We don't want this experience to affect your feelings about flying with us in the future," and they've offered him a $100 voucher. It turns out the "apology" was meant for the other passengers, and was in fact about Dr. Madduri.
Ironically, even before he filed his complaint with the Southwest Airlines officials, he got a letter from Frederick Taylor Jr, senior manager at the airline's customer service communications, offering a $100 voucher for a future flight.
"Sometimes, an explanation for the reason why things happen is not always possible, and the bizarre behaviour of the individual during your June 26 flight to Las Vegas supports this point," Taylor said in a letter accompanying the voucher. "While I am unable to explain the circumstances surrounding the disruption, I think it is important to offer my heartfelt apologies for any concerns you may have had as a result of this event".
"Naturally, we don't want this experience to affect your feelings about flying with us in the future, or for it to be your last recollection of traveling with our company. In fact we would consider it a privilege if you gave us another opportunity to provide you with better memories."
Here's Dr. Madduri's story in his own words:
[I am] a physician from India who immigrated to the United States 38 years ago and [has] been in private practice in South East Missouri for more than a quarter century.
On June 26, 2008, I traveled from St Louis to Las Vegas to attend AAPI annual convention by Southwest flight 1226. Two hours into the flight, I tried to go to the bathroom ( I take a blood pressure medicine with diuretic that makes one 'go' more often). As I was sitting in row six, I walked to the front lavatory. The flight attendant, named Lora Lee Minton, abruptly stopped me and essentially shouted at me, "Go back! This bath room is occupied, and you cannot stand here."
Shocked and dumbfounded at this unfriendly behavior, I went back and sat in my seat. Two minutes later, I saw the lavatory door opening and I got up and walked towards the bath room again. The same flight attendant (Lora Lee Minton) screamed at me, "I told you not to go to that bathroom," and started pushing me into my seat. I was totally confused at this erratic behavior, and told her that I had been taking medicine and I had to go to the toilet. I even tried to walk past Ms.Minton as I was very uncomfortable.
"I told you not to go," she pushed me into my seat! I was lost. I flew many times but had never experienced a rude and unfriendly behavior like this. Confused and not knowing what to do, I went back and sat in my seat. I saw the pilot came out of the lavatory, walked into the cockpit and closed the door behind him. Later I could use the bathroom.
The sequence of events that followed were more frightening and beyond the scope of any one's imagination. As the plane landed in Las Vegas , I was escorted by two police officers and was handed over to the FBI. The FBI interrogated me at length and for the first time, I was told that the flight attendant, Ms.Lora Lee Minton, reported that I was causing 'disturbance' during the flight. I was also told that when the pilot is out of the cockpit, no one is supposed get up from their seat, till the pilot goes back to his seat. This apparently is a federal law being enforced since 9/11 and no one ever told me, nor was it announced during the flight.
That night I was taken through federal centers for further investigation. I was hand-cuffed, finger printed and was 'processed' as a common criminal. I was told repeatedly that my background was checked and I had no criminal record. Even after checking my back ground and even after confirming it by calling my family members (Our two children that live in St Louis and Houston, Texas ) and my professional partner (urologist from Poplar Bluff, Missouri ), I still had to go through the harassment. I was dragged through Federal court buildings that night with hand and ankle cuffs, left in cells for hours before I was interrogated and was threatened repeatedly with abusive language: 'Shut up,' 'I am going to kick your ass,' to name a few. Finally I was taken to a federal detention center in Las Vegas and was ushered into a large jail cell! I spent the night in jail with 43 prisoners - most of them drug dealers and picked up at street fights!
The next day I went through processing in a federal court building and presented in front of a Federal Judge. The public defender told me that my 'case' was decided and I would be released if I pleaded guilty and paid a fine of $2,500. He also told me that I could refuse to plead guilty, contest the judgment and even could win, but could be taking a long time, cost more and might result in multiple trips to Las Vegas.
Exhausted, depressed and completely deflated, I agreed to what ever the public defender suggested and got out after 24 hours of 'living hell'.
I endured the most horrifying and traumatic 24-hours of my life for a crime I sincerely believe I did not commit. A simple statement by the flight attendant (Lora Lee Minton) in normal tone of voice that I was not supposed to wait in front of the toilet when it was occupied by the pilot, would have saved the ghastly ordeal.
I was told repeatedly by the prison guards, some of the FBI officials (not all of them were rude), the prison inmates who heard my story that the reason I was targeted was because of my skin color (brown) and ethnic background (South Asian, Indian).
When I returned home, I did not feel like lying flat and take the abuse, more so the incident involved not only me but an entire race and ethnic group. I sent my story to local, state and national news papers including all the major Indian news publications. The response was overwhelming: the news papers were very receptive; I received numerous e-mails, letters, phone-calls, sympathy and supportive cards; every one wanted me to 'fight-it-out' and 'not to keep quite and do nothing.'
I did send my story to ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) of Missouri and Nevada , yet I haven't heard from them yet, though I was told that my experience had merit. I contacted attorneys locally as well as in St Louis and was told that they were looking for proper attorneys that specialize in civil liberties cases; I was told by some that I should not have pleaded guilty and should find eye-witnesses that would testify in my favor.
During 30 years of my stay in America , I never felt so threatened nor my rights so violated as I did that fateful night. 'You are not guilty until proven otherwise', the anthem we are made to believe all the time was turned out to be not true; I was guilty until prove my self innocent. I was treated like a guilty person and was never given a chance even to tell my side of the story. Even after the incidence, I am finding it difficult to prove my innocence. I want Southwest Air Lines to realize their mistake and drop charges against me. I did contact Southwest airlines and was informed that they were standing by their stewardess and the issue had no racial profile or bias.
(Thanks to Ashish!)
(Photo: Cubbie_n_Vegas)
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Comments:
I hope he gets a good lawyer that can expunge the guilty plea and get him a good settlement from SWA.
Lora Lee is a bitch...or c*&t if you prefer as I do.
Under Duress, as well a a Lawsuit towards the Airline and Attendant, as well as a Hate Crime would suffice to say the least.
in before "Privatize the profits, socialize the losses"?
what a horrible story.
It often seems that many of these airline fiascos involve some flight attendant that acts poorly. This would appear to be the case here as well.
Was he read his rights? Including the right to an attorney? He should have had an attorney before pleading guilty to anything. And the public defender did not seem to be working in his best interests, this alone could overturn the conviction.
It sounds to me like he did brake the law. I see no racially motivating connection at all.
When a member of the airplane's crew tells you to do something you have to do it. End of story. In his description he states that he disregarded the crew's instructions and tried to push past them. Clearly he broke the law.
Flying while brown is the new driving while black.
Full disclaimer, I'm white, and my avatar is a black puppet. Go diversity!
@the Goat: I know, they should have totally shot him, execution-style, on the tarmac. That would have been what criminals like him deserve.
I know the circumstances are different, but Larry Craig isn't having much luck getting out of his guilty plea....
Having said that - this is federal law, not Missouri state law. Federal law allows for the withdrawal of a guilty plea in four differen ways. The first part probably won't apply, but that last one might.
Source:
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(d) Withdrawing a Guilty or Nolo Contendere Plea.
A defendant may withdraw a plea of guilty or nolo contendere:
(1) before the court accepts the plea, for any reason or no reason; or
(2) after the court accepts the plea, but before it imposes sentence if:
(A) the court rejects a plea agreement under Rule 11(c)(5); or
(B) the defendant can show a fair and just reason for requesting the withdrawal.
These are fairly amiguous terms though, and I don't have time to check for case law.
Hope the guy is able to reverse his plea. I wonder, though, what the rest of the terms of the agreement were. Does he now have a criminal record? Was he given a withheld judgment? Anyone know?
@the Goat: The Goat or "The Sheep" because people like you seem to be all too content to blindly follow the "rules," regardless of their merit.
@the Goat:
Yes, that's right. Let's all be good little sheep and do as we're told. Free thought, questioning those in charge, and social disobedience are all very bad things.
Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go sit in the corner quietly while my rights are stripped from me and our government spends our great grandchildren into debt.
How could this be a law, unless passengers are notified when the captain is away from the cockpit? This law seems a little too easy to break - simply standing up could break this law, with no way for the passenger to know where the pilot is?
Welcome to the New Amerika. Papers please.
It seems to me that if a urologist, of all people, tells you that he needs to pee, you should get out of the way. This without his saying in an authoritative way, "Clear the aisles - I'm a professional!"
@Flame: It seems to me if the charges turned out to be false or unfounded he could get the guilty plea overturned fairly easily. You can't be guilty of something that didn't happen, even if you claim you are. That letter from Frederick Taylor Jr calling the flight attendent's behaviour "bizarre" should be exhibit A in his new court case.
Did he break the law? How can one break a secret law that he didn't know about?
It seemed like he calmly explained the situation to the stewardess, who didn't want to hear excuses, she just wanted him to do what he said without question.
"Power corrupts...". This woman, and many more people like her, have been given power and responsibility that they cannot handle.
Also, these cretins may have power, but you can still have power and be nice.
Politeness goes a long way, even for people with power. Needless to say, this whole situation could have been avoided if she had been trained properly and was polite to the victim here.
It sounds as though the "public defender" here wasn't doing their job too well. Words like "ineffective counsel" come to mind here.
Telling someone "sign this and you can go home" after they are put through 24 hours of misery sounds rather predatory to me.
Heh, biggest mistake there was to plead guilty. Even if he may be able to get out of it, the effort to get out of it now is going to be significantly harder.
In my opinion, never plead guilty unless you are guilty - or it is impossible to prove you are not guilty :|
Seems to me this should be an opportunity for the airlines to improve their staff training. If Lora Lee had the training to say "I'm sorry Sir, the lavatory at the front of the plane is off limits to passengers at the moment. When it becomes available I will try and let you know. Until then please stay in your seat. I am sorry for any discomfort this may cause you." Or if the passenger is allowed to get out of his seat add this "You can use the lavatory at the rear of the plane."
But no, Lora Lee, by the accounts here, decides she is going to be the bitch in this situation and everything spirals out of control both for the paying passenger and the airline.
Lesson here? Yes! All workers in service industries need suitable training to deal with customers, clients, the general public in a way that maintains a professional and appropriate relationship. Those that can and do maintain this professional relationship need to be rewarded. Those that fail to maintain this professional relationship need to be fired.
If I were that doctor, I would be tempted to pursue this through all avenues, the courts, the press, and the Consumerist and not stop until I had Lora Lee's head on a platter.
...or take the train...
I would hope that everyone could get together and just agree to:
a) Withdraw the guilty plea and clear his record
b) Issue a public and written apology from the Airline and the employee that sounded the false alarm.
c) Refund the man (or anyone else that paid for that ticket), giving a voucher here is insulting.
d) The flight attendant should be fired.
e) If there are any new rules and regulations, or laws, that state you cannot be up from your seat when the pilot is out of the cockpit please direct everyone to them before the flight and during the pre-flight announcements.
Sadly it still sound like a more pleasant trip than one would receive on United Airways.
@BlondeGrlz: True. Like I said, I hope it works.
The Courts don't seem to be taking much chance with national security though.
I agree that the flight attendant could have handled it MUCH better than she did.
Personally, I don't fly, so I didn't even know about the rule that you can't get up while the pilot is out of the cockpit.
The problem that I see is that he did plead guilty. You should never ever plead guilty. As expensive as it is to have to hire an attorney, at least you know that your rights will be protected. And his public defender should be smacked upside the head for telling him to plead to it.
The flight attendant's behavior was unacceptable. All she had to do was explain that Federal regulations prohibit standing at the front of the plane. Most airlines tell you if you have to use the front lavatory, check the occupancy sign to make sure it is unoccupied. I dislike traveling with Southwest.
this is depressing. this is our america today. our rights are being trampled & the best we can do is plead guilty & pay the extortionist so we can just go home.
it's unfortunate that dr. madduri chose the path of least resistance, but i don't blame him. "go home tonite or face a protracted federal court battle 1500 miles from your home". lord knows if they would've even released him - he's a terrorist! he's a flight risk!
the only consolation (if you can call it that) is that this is now happening to good, mainstream, law-abiding americans. only when the tyranny begins to affect the average joe does he begin to care enough to get off the couch & do something about it.
@the Goat: The flight attendant said, "This bath room is occupied, and you cannot stand here." She did not say, "All passengers must remain seated while the pilot is not in the cockpit."
"This bath room is occupied" does not in any way imply that you can't stand up again when you can see that the person in there is leaving.
@maztec: In all fairness to him, if you were in his situation and put into 24 hours of absurdity, I'm guessing that 8-9 out of 10 readers here would take the guilty plea, get the f--- outta there, and then raise hell with the consumerist.
I hope SWA gives this guy a golden ticket for his trouble. That probably is the least they can do for him.
These are the same people who wouldn't let me board a flight because I wasn't wearing my shoes (I had to run through security because their 25-minute connection put me in another terminal). I missed that flight and got nothing but threats of arrest and prosecution for not wearing shoes.
Couldn't a simple "pilot's in the bathroom, come back one he's in the cockpit again" or "a VIP is in the bathroom, I'll come get you when it's your turn" do the trick?
I hate all these racist, fearmongering people out there who think anybody that's not white is out to kill them! (Full transparency: I'm a white Texan, 21yo.)
I try my best to point out whenever people are being illogical, paranoid, delusional, racist, fearmongering, etc... but damn I'm only one person.
This story itself is EXACTLY why I hate most people. Why do I HATE them? ("Wah, hate is a strong word, *whine whine*.") Because they cause massive damages in society by their stupidity, illogical behavior, fearmongering tactics, paranoid conclusions, and delusional fantasies.
Please, people. Educate your children WELL. Encourage positive changes to public education that DO NOT involve brainwashing but instead rely on LOGIC. Vote for more politicians who who do the same (good education, good rationale, etc). This country is going downhill economically and intellectually as we continue to let these things happen. If in 5-10 years NOTHING changes to stop this slipperly slope, I'm out of here!
@ThinkerTDM: Oh, these days it's pretty easy to break the secret laws we don't know about.
It's even easier to break the secret regulations. Those are easier to create.
Yeah - once again, a situation that could have been avoided by the flight attendant doing exactly the same thing but in a "nicer" way. "I'm sorry sir, the pilots using that bathroom and we have to keep the area clear. I'll let you know when he is done." How do these people work in customer service and not know the simple rule of "be nice".
Couldn't he have used the bathroom at the back of the plane? Why didn't the flight attendant tell him to do that?
This should never have happened, based on what I've read. Southwest is clearly in the "wrong". The flight attendant should have explained why he couldn't use that bathroom at that time. Although I don't know why he wasn't allowed to use it after the pilot had gone back to the cockpit. It really does sound like racial profiling.
To those who think the public defender was wrong, re-read what he explained to the guy. He said "you can fight it and win, but it will take a lot of time and you'll have to come back to vegas a few times. Or, you can pay $2500 and go home. No jail time, just a fine." I fail to see how that was wrong. I'm not saying that the OP was wrong in accepting it, but he had his options explained and chose to just go home. Don't push the blame off on the Public Defender because he explained the options to his client.
You guys have to understand a few things.
1.) Who on that plane knew this mans story? Nobody i could claim to be the pope on the plane doesn't mean squat.
2.) Why would you tell people the captain is out of the cock pit using the bathroom? That's an invitation to disaster if there was somebody on board that wanted to cause trouble.
3.) yes our imprisoning of people without bail or legal rights is horrible, but you people keep electing these politicians so stop complaining and start acting, Dem's and Repub's are all the same and until you guys understand that and start either running yourself or voting thrid party people in you're gonna keep having stupid laws like these.
Do i feel bad for this guy? sure, he didn't deserve all that, but he did break the law, and he did disobey the flight attendant.
Say what you will but flying is different now in the US. She made a judgment call and she knew the laws no body is to be up when the captain is going to the bathroom, it's not like they're gonna announce this rule at the beginning of every flight and scare people.
@ the Goat:
You should call yourself "the Sheep", because you have clearly shown yourself to be one by stating essentially that he should blindly follow instructions.
Also, learn how to spell. The word is break, not brake. Brakes are on cars.
I wish he wouldn't have plead the case...now he will probably have trouble flying for the rest of his life.
The $100 voucher for future air travel has to be the "out of touch with reality" capper to this story. I'm sure Dr. Madduri will be quick to take SW up on the valuable offer.
Perhaps Frederick Taylor Jr moonlights as a flight-attendant trainer? Senior manager my foot.
Mommy, will the nightmares end soon?
@Fist-o: The problem is that they give the benefit of the doubt to the flight attendant as if he or she is a police officer. And that the flight attendant is forced to do nothing extra to get someone in trouble. They need to force a flight attendant to give a sworn testimony before charges can be filed. That way when it's proven to be a lie, the attendant actually faces a punishment.
This story is ridiculous and that stewardess deserves to be fired and charged. She didn't explain the problem or issue at all. She said someone was in the bathroom, and when the good doctor saw someone exit another lavatory tried to go. How was he to know about a) the pilot and b) the new 9/11 rule. I've flown dozens of times since then and have never heard of this rule, nor have I heard a flight attendant try to stop someone from going to the bathroom.
I urge you to send the story to your local news. Southwest played nice after the news media got hold of the skimpy-dress story. Here is more Southwest acting ridiculously. Contact your newspapers, local and national tv stations, and editors.
I don't understand why he just didn't use the bathrooms in the rear of the airplane. He clearly "needed to go." I agree that what the flight attendant did was not right, but it seems to be that it could have been avoided by using the other restrooms.
Pro Tip for future flights: If you have a medical issue, inform the flight crew in advance so that they can accommodate your special needs.
@the Goat: I tend to agree that it doesn't seem racially motivated, but I would have to review the law to see what it says about pilots; that's not something I'm familiar with. I do agree that she definately needed to explain herself better to the doctor.
In almost every penal code system, "Ignorance of Law" or "Mistake of Fact" are not an affirmative defense to prosecution. Every licensed driver is expected to obey every traffic law or risk citation. If you start reading your state's transportation code, you'd be suprised for the little things you can be ticketed for (i.e.: a burnt out high-beam indicator light on the cluster panel). Most parents are still unsure of their rights regarding punishment of their children even though it is covered in most state's family or juvenile codes.
Also, he didn't state what he was being charged with? I'd be interested to see what they convicted him for. It also seems like he should have had his own lawyer there and not have been assigned a public defender who looks like was trying to get the case over with quickly with little regard to who he was representing.
It seems like he may not have been fully aware of his rights, but, again, that isn't necessiarly a defense to prosecution, especially if he stated, verbally or in written form, that he knew his rights. The Miranda Warning does not have to be read to you until you are formally questioned by law enforcement regarding the case, unless exigent circumstances are present.
Of course, this is federal law, so things are somewhat different than I have been used to.
There is no mention of what the charges were and what he plead guilty to.
to all those saying 'he broke the law'... how many of us posting here knew that this law existed in the first place? has anyone seen it listed on their boarding passes, posted at the gates, on the headrest infront of you, or even announced in the safety instructions?
and why did'nt she tell him of this law on the aircraft? why did he only hear of it at his arrest?
has anyone looked this law up as yet?
He can probably get out of the guilty plea because of the way he was threatened and abused.