A disfigured nurse says Southwest Airlines kicked her off a flight because of non-cancerous tumors growing on her face and body.
Briana Solari was kicked off a flight from Burbank-Hollywood Airport in Los Angeles to her home in Sacramento shortly after surgery to reduce the growths Thursday night, which left her with visible scars.
Solari, whose tumors are caused by a disease called neurofibromatosis (NF) that causes them to grow over nerve endings, said KCRA that a Southwest flight attendant approached her after boarding and asked her to return to the gate.
‘I got off the plane and they said, “Well, there are some concerns. Do you have any illnesses or medical issues?” And I said, “No, I had surgery.”
Briana Solari, pictured, was kicked off a Southwest flight from Burbank to Sacramento over flight attendants’ fears that noncancerous tumors on her face may have been contagious.
“It’s actually none of his business what’s going on, but I said, ‘No, I had surgery,’ and they said, ‘It’s okay,’ so he got on the phone with someone.”
Solari says the flight attendant called a Southwest-contracted doctor who had never examined her.
Southwest staff refused to allow him to speak to the doctor to try to explain his condition, Solari said.
The drama caused the nurse to miss her flight home and left her feeling deeply upset about a health condition that causes people to make nasty comments.
She said: ‘Humiliated, ashamed, guilty?
Solari says living with her condition, called neurofibromatosis, is distressing and that the behavior of Southwest staff caused her even more distress.
The nurse received a total of $545 in vouchers from Southwest, but she never wants to fly with the airline again and now plans to sue.
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‘It’s hard enough. It’s hard enough with this condition because I had some visible tumors on my face and my arms, and people were commenting.
“It’s very hard to quantify what it feels like to be singled out for a medical condition, for your appearance. It’s something I can’t really help. And I tried to cover it up as best I could.”
Solari was eventually able to fly home with Southwest on a later flight after being forced to obtain a letter from her surgeon confirming her condition was not contagious.
Southwest gave Solari a $500 flight voucher and a $45 meal voucher.
But she was so disgusted by the experience that she has vowed never to set foot on one of its planes again and also plans to sue.
Solari said: “I don’t think I’ll ever fly with them again. I think this could have been handled much more professionally.”
‘They should have waited until they had all the information before making a decision that ultimately affected my day, my flight, my trip, and my overall outlook on Southwest has changed.
“This is absolute discrimination! They are violating my medical privacy.
“They don’t need to know that I just said I had surgery and that should be it. They shouldn’t be snooping around in my private medical information.”
A Southwest spokesperson told DailyMail.com: “We are heartbroken to learn of the customer’s experience flying with Air France and extend our sincerest apologies for the inconvenience.
‘Although our team eventually received clearance for the client to travel, we were unable to do so in time for the flight’s departure.
‘We have re-accommodated her on a later flight, offered her a travel voucher for a future flight along with a meal voucher and are contacting her directly to discuss the situation.
