OREGON (WITI) -- A couple in Oregon is unhappy with United Airlines after their daughter who has autism was escorted off of a flight by police. The couple is now planning a discrimination lawsuit.
According to KATU, Dr. Donna Beegle is a public speaker who frequently travels with her 15-year-old daughter, Juliette, all around the world. They've never had any issues.
But on Tuesday, May 5th Dr. Beegle was traveling with her family on a connecting flight from Houston to Portland when Juliette got overly hungry.
Dr. Beegle tried to get her daughter to eat some of the food she packed for the flight, but Juliette was being fussy and didn't want any of it. According to KATU, Juliette is high-functioning but has extreme difficulty verbally communicating.
"I know her, when she gets over hungry or over thirsty she really struggles because she can't tell us," said Dr. Beegle.
Dr. Beegle then asked a flight attendant if they could purchase some hot food from first class, but they were told "no."
Finally, after Juliette got to the point of crying, the attendant went and got a first class meal.
Juliette started to calm down and was watching a video when a member of the flight crew announced the plane would be making an emergency landing because of a passenger behavior issue.
"The police said, 'Well, you know, we're going to have to ask you to leave the plane.' And I said, 'I don't understand, why? There's no issue. What is the problem?' And he said, "Well, the captain doesn't feel comfortable flying to Portland with your daughter on the plane."
According to KATU, the Beegle family has hired a lawyer and filed a lawsuit. Dr. Beegle says the purpose of the legal action is to encourage the carrier to better train their employees in understanding the needs of autistic children.
United Airlines provided this written statement to KATU: