• Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Award Expert
Live and Let's Fly
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Award Expert
Home » asiana » Flight Attendants Ordered to Pay Model $100K for Spilling Soup on Her
asianaLaw In Travel

Flight Attendants Ordered to Pay Model $100K for Spilling Soup on Her

Matthew January 25, 2018 6 Comments

Nearly four years later, a fashion model has prevailed in her battle for restitution from Asiana Airlines and the FAs who scalded her with soup.

It was March 17, 2014 and the model, who is only known as Chang, was flying Asiana from Seoul to Paris in business class. She claimed FAs spilled hot soup on her, scalding her “lower abdomen to her thigh and private parts” and effectively ending her modeling career.

Furthermore, she claimed Asiana did not have adequate supplies onboard to treat her. Instead, FAs only offered her pain pills, a bag of ice, and ointment for the long journey to Paris.

Lastly, she asserted that she could no longer have a normal life, as the burns would likely create problems for future pregnancy and and child delivery.

In 2015 she filed suit against Asiana, asking for only 2,000,00oKRW (1885USD) in damages.

Asiana, not surprisingly, took a very different view of the situation. They blamed her for the incident, arguing Chang had knocked over the soup tray rather than a FA. Asiana also claimed it provided medical assistance onboard under the supervision of a doctor traveling on the flight.

But a court sided with Chang and ordered the FAs onboard (and Asiana Airlines) to pay 109,600,000KRW (103,000USD) in damages.

CONCLUSION

It is not for me to say who is telling the truth, but does anyone else find it a bit puzzling that Chang only asked for $1885 if her career was indeed ruined and any pregnancy inevitably complicated? Maybe it is just the litigious culture of the United States influencing me, but I would have thought she’d go after far more. Lastly, this is likely a case of joint and several liability. That means she can go after the FAs if she chooses, but will likely just go after Asiana for payment of her damages award.

Previous Article Review: Delta 767-300 Business Class Honolulu to Los Angeles
Next Article United Airlines Gambles on Increased Capacity

About Author

Matthew

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 120 countries over the last decade. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, BBC, Fox News, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, Al Jazeera, Toronto Star, and on NPR. Studying international relations, American government, and later obtaining a law degree, Matthew has a plethora of knowledge outside the travel industry that leads to a unique writing perspective. He has served in the United States Air Force, on Capitol Hill, and in the White House. His Live and Let's Fly blog shares the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs and promotions, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel. His writings on penandpassport.com offer more general musings on life from the eyes of a frequent traveler. He also founded awardexpert.com, a highly-personalized consulting service that aids clients in the effective use of their credit card points and frequent flyer miles. Clients range from retirees seeking to carefully use their nest egg of points to multinational corporations entrusting Matthew with the direction and coordination of company travel.

Related Posts

  • Aviation Officer Who Dragged Dao is Suing United Airlines and City of Chicago

    April 11, 2018
  • XTRA Airways Lawsuit

    U.S. Airline Faces $50MN Lawsuit by Chinese Tourists

    April 10, 2018
  • British Airways Seat Assignment Scam

    Scam “British Airways” Agent Defrauds My Client

    April 4, 2018

6 Comments

  1. Lack Reply
    January 25, 2018 at 8:42 am

    Perhaps it’s something in the line of “damage equal or exceeding”? 2m KRW seems like a nice round number to cut off for example the small claims?

  2. Andy K Reply
    January 25, 2018 at 2:04 pm

    I spilled coffee on myself on a flight earlier this week. Granted I was sitting in economy and wearing thicker clothes, there was no issue at all with burns. I can’t imagine spilling soup would result in burns and pregnancy complications — unless the soup was unusually hot and she dumped it directly on herself.

    • Marc Reply
      January 25, 2018 at 2:49 pm

      As a kid I spilled soup on my leg and ankle. I was left with some really large 1st degree burns (and I believe second degree burns). The worst of the burn area must have been at least 24 square inches and was heavily blistered with a ton of puss for around 10 days. This was with ER attention within 30 minutes.

      I’m not doctor and I don’t know about pregnancy complications but it’s not hard to imagine that it could have impacted her career if there was scarring.

  3. anon Reply
    January 25, 2018 at 7:40 pm

    Under US employment law, an employer has an implied duty to indemnify employees for liabilities that arise during the course of the reasonable performance of their duties. Even if the employee were loaded (trust fund for example), the employer would have to pay.

  4. Matt Reply
    January 26, 2018 at 2:03 pm

    @anon, cool display of irrelevant knowledge.

    Perhaps the number was that low to try to get the FA/Asiana to admit fault and then bring another related suit? I know that wouldn’t work per se in the US, but maybe it would in Korea?

    You’re right, it seems like there are some zeros missing from her ask.

  5. Pingback: British Airways Bed Bug Problem Worse Than We Thought and American Tracks Compensation Abusers - View from the Wing

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Search

  • Popular
  • Recent
  • Thrown Off a United Airlines Flight for Taking Pictures! February 19, 2013
  • Turkish Airlines Safety
    Is it Safe to Fly Turkish Airlines? July 21, 2016
  • United Club
    5 Reasons to Purchase a United Club One-Time Pass May 16, 2013
  • How to Make the Most of an Airline Schedule Change August 25, 2015
  • Hevetic Airways Fokker 100 Review
    Review: Helvetic Airways Fokker 100 Business Class Munich to Zurich April 20, 2018
  • Lufthansa First Class Lounge Munich Terrace
    The One Way Lufthansa First Class Lounge in Munich Beats Frankfurt April 20, 2018
  • Lufthansa First Class Lounge Munich Review
    Review: Lufthansa First Class Lounge Munich (MUC) April 20, 2018
  • Lufthansa A380 First Class Munich Review
    Review: Lufthansa A380 First Class Los Angeles to Munich April 19, 2018

Recent Posts

  • Hevetic Airways Fokker 100 Review
    Review: Helvetic Airways Fokker 100 Business Class Munich to Zurich April 20, 2018
  • Lufthansa First Class Lounge Munich Terrace
    The One Way Lufthansa First Class Lounge in Munich Beats Frankfurt April 20, 2018
  • Lufthansa First Class Lounge Munich Review
    Review: Lufthansa First Class Lounge Munich (MUC) April 20, 2018
  • Lufthansa A380 First Class Munich Review
    Review: Lufthansa A380 First Class Los Angeles to Munich April 19, 2018

Categories

Instagram

No images found!
Try some other hashtag or username

Archives

January 2018
M T W T F S S
« Dec   Feb »
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031  
Facebook Twitter Instagram RSS