KANSAS CITY — (CNN) A Kansas City mom says she was humiliated and shamed on a United Airlines flight with her family.
She had to go to the bathroom, and flight attendants handed her a plastic cup. Then, they shamed her and told her they would report her.
Nicole Harper is the mother of two and has an overactive bladder. She says she was heading home from Houston with her family when she really had to use the restroom.
“It’s a little embarrassing to come forward,” she said.
Harper is less than thrilled to share what happened 30 minutes into her flight.
“I’ll just get up and go to the bathroom really quick and go back to my seat,” Harper said.
She says a flight attendant told her to sit down.
“They started doing drink service other people getting up at this point,” she said.
Including a first-class passenger, Harper was ready for her turn when flight attendants told her the pilot was expecting turbulence.
Harper told the flight attendant she needed to use the restroom and it was urgent.
“She told me very rudely it was not allowed to get out of my seat,” she recalled.
Harper weighed her options
“Well, I’m going to need a cup then,” she said.
Harper was wearing a dress she could do a squat over the seat and just use a cup. She says she filled two cups with the help of her husband.
“I was thinking I was on candid camera or being punked at this point,” she said.
Harper says a flight attendant came back and told her to stand up and go empty her cups in the bathroom.
“She was basically reprimanding me and talking down to me through the aisle with other people listening,” she said.
Harper says the flight attendant told her they would report her. The pilot would speak to her when the plane landed and the seats would all need to be cleaned by a biohazard team.
“There was just no customer service no compassion,” she said.
United Airlines issued the following statement:
Customer safety is always our first priority. Initial reports from the Mesa Airlines flight attendants indicate that Ms. Harper attempted to visit the lavatory on descent and was instructed to remain seated with the seat belt fastened per FAA regulations. At no point during the flight did flight attendants suggest that Ms. Harper use cups instead of the lavatory. We have reached out to Ms. Harper to better understand what occurred.
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