“Nutgate” Flight Attendant Files Lawsuit Against Violent Airline Executive

Another of the flight attendants who fell victim to a Korean Air executive’s meltdown over first-class nut service has filed suit in U.S. federal court.

A second of the flight attendants, who were famously ordered to be removed from a John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Incheon International Airport (ICN) flight that had already left the gate when a Korean Air executive became enraged over improper nut service, has now filed a lawsuit in a federal court in Queens.

The International Business Times reports that lawyers for flight attendant Park Chang-jin claim in court documents that the cabin crew member suffered “serious bodily and mental harm” as a result of former Korean Air executive Heather Cho’s tantrum over being served macadamia nuts in a bag rather than on a plate.

Cho lost her job and was convicted of criminal charges in Korea for ordering the pilot to return to the gate to remove flight attendants Park Chang-jin and Kim Do-hee from the flight. Both flight attendants have filed lawsuits in Korea and Kim Do-hee has already filed suit in the U.S. as well.

Cho’s lawyers have sought to have the previous U.S. case dismissed because of the parallel case ongoing in Korea. Attorneys for Cho also assert that translating nearly 8,000 pages of documents into English would make trying the case in the U.S. unfeasible.

The lawsuit filed in the U.S. by Kim Do-hee names only Cho as a defendant, but Park Chang-jin is suing both Cho and Korean Air. Neither lawyers for Korean Air nor Cho’s attorneys have responded to the latest lawsuit, but legal experts argue that the addition of a fourth lawsuit on two continents substantially increases the pressure for the defendants to reach a quick and quiet settlement.

[Photo: Reuters via IBT]