JetBlue Seats Man in Bathroom

I smell a hoax, but Gokhan Mutlu is claiming that JetBlue forced him to sit in the bathroom after giving his seat to a stewardess.

Initially, Mutlu was told a flight attendant had taken the last seat on the plane, but then he was advised she would sit in the employee "jump seat," meaning he could have the last seat, the lawsuit said.

The pilot told him 1½ hours into the five-hour flight that he would have to relinquish the seat to the flight attendant, court papers say. But the pilot said that Mutlu could not sit in the jump seat because only JetBlue employees were permitted to sit there, the lawsuit said.

When Mutlu expressed reluctance to go sit in the bathroom, the pilot, who was not named in the lawsuit, told him that "he was the pilot, that this was his plane, under his command that (Mutlu) should be grateful for being on board," the lawsuit said.

When the aircraft hit turbulence and passengers were directed to return to their seats, but "the plaintiff had no seat to return to, sitting on a toilet stool with no seat belts," court papers say.

It just sounds fishy. Maybe the stewardess had a medical problem? If the story is true, it's still hard to see why Mutlu would be entitled to any compensation other than a refund. He didn't suffer any injury, only discomfort, and he was flying for free using a "buddy pass" so even the refund would be pointless.

Hopefully no one will interpret my reluctance to support Mutlu's $2 million lawsuit as an endorsement of JetBlue's behavior. I've only flown them once, and had a fine trip, but I've read many negative stories about their customer service.

(HT: Neatorama.)