An epileptic 5-year-old girl pre-boarding a plane at California’s John Wayne airport was mocked by a Southwest Airlines agent, her mother claimed on Wednesday. (iStock)
An epileptic 5-year-old girl pre-boarding a plane at California’s John Wayne airport was mocked by a Southwest Airlines agent, her mother claimed on Wednesday.
Abcde Redford – pronounced ab-city, according to her mother, Traci – had her name made fun of by the agent, who then proceeded to post a photo of the child’s boarding pass on social media, ABC 7 reported.
The mother and daughter encountered the agent while traveling to El Paso, Texas, earlier in November.
"The gate agent started laughing, pointing at me and my daughter, talking to other employees. So I turned around and said, 'Hey if I can hear you, my daughter can hear you, so I'd appreciate if you'd just stop,'" Redford told ABC 7.
"While I was sitting there, she took a picture of my boarding pass and chose to post it on social media, mocking my daughter,” Redford continued. “It was actually brought to my attention by somebody who had seen it on Facebook and reported it to Southwest Airlines. And after two weeks of doing a formal complaint, Southwest hadn't done anything."
Redford, reportedly asked about the mocking by her daughter, told the girl that “not everyone is nice and not everyone is going to be nice and it's unfortunate.”
The airline, meantime, issued a statement to ABC 7 in which it apologized.
"We extend our sincere apology to the family,” the statement read. “We take great pride in extending our Southwest Hospitality to all of our Customers, which includes living by the Golden Rule and treating every individual with respect, in person or online. The post is not indicative of the care, respect, and civility we expect from all of our Employees. We have followed up with the Employee involved, and while we do not disclose personnel actions publicly, we are using this as an opportunity to reinforce our policies and emphasize our expectations for all Employees."