A New York man whose morbidly obese, wheelchair-bound wife died last year after she was denied a seat on three different flights home from Hungary sued the airlines on Monday for $6 million.
Vilma Soltesz, who was reported to have weighed 425 pounds, suffered from diabetes and had an amputated leg, news media said. She died at her vacation home in Hungary in October, 2012 after several airline crews repeatedly failed to accommodate her size despite initially telling her they could do so, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan. The suit accused the three airlines of wrongful death and gross negligence.
The couple flew from Manhattan in September on a Delta Air Lines plane, having purchased two seats for Vilma, and arrived safely in Budapest for a vacation, according to the lawsuit.