Southwest Airlines Kicks Woman With Service Dog Off of Flight

A woman and her service dog were kicked off of a Southwest Airlines flight because a crew member didn't like the dog's breed.

Schuyler McGraw, 34, of Oakland, sees a psychiatrist and takes medication for post-traumatic stress disorder. She also has a complex trauma obsessive compulsive disorder after years of childhood abuse and she has seizures. To help detect those seizures, she had a Staffordshire bull terrier named Lux. The animal has prevented at least 100 seicures over the past three years. When the dog senses a seizure coming, Lux circles McGraw, hovers near her legs and leans on her, San Jose Mercury News reports.

However the staff of a Southwest flight didn't want the dog on board. The crew member didn't like the dog's breed and had them removed from the plane on Tuesday.

McGraw rarely travels but she was trying to visit an old friend over the Thanksgiving holiday. She saved up a year for the flight. She was able to check her bags and Okaland airport and go through security and board the flight without a problem. She settled into her seat with Lux at her feet for the 90-minute flight
to Spokane and then to Idaho.

"I clicked the seat belt and I was so happy. I felt 30 seconds of freedom," McGraw said. She then said a flight attendant started glaring at her.

"I saw the look in her eye and it was so petty," she said, adding that she was wearing a shirt with the logo of a medical marijuana dispensary on it and felt judged. "The look in her eye (said to me), 'That is a stoner with a pit bull.'"
McGraw says the attendant spoke to two other crew members and they asked McGraw to leave the plane because they didn't believe Lux was a service dog. She says that she gave the crew a handwritten note from November 23 from her psychiatrist which reads "(McGraw) requires a dog as an accommodation for air travel. The dog has the ability to predict and prevent medical problems such as seizures."

However McGraw said the crew still made her leave the plane and had her sit in the waiting area. The airline later said she could take a later flight, but McGraw said she suffered from a seizure and was too upset to continue on the trip.

According to the Americans with Disabilities Act, when it comes to psychiatric service animals, "air carriers may request very specific diagnostic documentation 48 hours in advance of a flight."

McGraw said she tried to contact the airline twice. She called two days before her flight to make sure that Lux would be okay on board and she was told that it wouldn't be a problem if she had a note.

Southwest is now working with McGraw to right the issue. "Our employees are responsible for the safety and well-being of all passengers and their animals on our aircraft," Southwest spokesman Dan Landson said. "We take customer service very seriously ... and we are working with the customer to resolve the situation."

The airline gave McGraw a refund for her $651 ticket, which she accepted, but she would not accept an offer of a credit for a future flight.

"She tried to apologize, tried to offer me miles. I said, 'Save it, this is a discrimination case, this is not about the money.' I don't want to fly on their miles. I don't want to fly their airline again. She called me with a very cheap solution to a very expensive situation."