Talk about fantastic PR nightmares. Director Kevin Smith
was ejected from a Southwest flight for some very nebulous reasons but basically because he was considered too large for a single seat as per Southwest's policy. The mainstream media is starting to take Smith to task since he decided to pursue, in his words, "a scorched earth policy" regarding his treatment by Southwest. Smith has a significant online footprint with nearly 1.6 million Twitter followers so when he started seriously trashing Southwest it really got their attention. There has been a lot of inaccurate information out there about the event which could be considered character assassination of Smith. I suggest you listen to his account on his
Smodcast podcast #106. The whole thing really is a tale of customer service gone completely awry. Smith clearly was not in violation of Southwest's policy which is intentionally vague to protect them from being at fault for some kind of discrimination.
Southwest should be ashamed of themselves for forcing their employees into a situation where they are basically publicly shaming people. Allowing someone to board a plan, stow their luggage, and sit in a seat before telling them that they are too fat to sit in that seat is just wrong. What choice is left for that person but to be led off the plane in shame? You can't argue with an employee of the airline because you'll end up in some TSA hurt locker wondering why your asshole is so sore.
