A Chicago woman was recently prevented from boarding her flight after gate agents deemed her attire to be lewd and inappropriate. Kayla Eubanks took to Twitter to document the entire experience of Southwest Airlines employees telling her that her low-cut halter top was offensive, and she would need to change or cover up to board.
The agents told Eubanks that it was in the airline’s policy to use their discretion to prevent passengers from boarding because of inappropriate attire. In the video, Eubanks is heard asking the employees to show her this policy, because she had never heard of such a thing.
“Y’all I was KICKED OFF my @SouthwestAir flight because my boobs are ‘lewd, obscene and offensive,’” she said in a tweet. “I was told that passengers may look at me in my attire and be offended.”
Employees could be seen going to look for a handbook to show Eubanks the exact language they were referring to, but they never actually found it. It was at that point that they asked the flight’s captain to intervene instead.
According to Eubanks, the captain sided with her and said that the agents were “hating on her.”
Rather than keep her off of the flight completely, the captain loaned the woman a shirt from his luggage to wear. Upset, Eubanks wore the shirt for the duration of the flight, so that things wouldn’t be held up any longer.
The airline reached out to her, according to a statement they made, to apologize and offer a full refund for her experience.
Do you think that airlines should have the ability to prevent passengers from boarding based on what they wear?
Related: Southwest No Longer Cleaning Armrests And Seatbelts Between Flights
