London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 16, 2025

Woman sues easyJet after she was made to move seats because she's female

Woman sues easyJet after she was made to move seats because she's female

'It was the first time in my adult life that I was discriminated against for being a woman.'

A woman is suing easyJet after she was asked to move seats twice when two men refused to sit next to a female passenger.

Melanie Wolfson, who is British-Israeli, is claiming 66,438 shekels (nearly £15,000) compensation from the low-cost airline for her experience on a Tel Aviv to London flight, which she says left her feeling ‘insulted and humiliated’.

She told Haaretz: ‘It was the first time in my adult life that I was discriminated against for being a woman.’

The lawsuit states Ms Wolfson boarded the flight last October and sat in her aisle seat, which she had paid extra for.

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man and his son were already in the row, and asked her to trade places with a man sitting a few rows ahead.

She refused their request, as she disagreed with them asking her to move purely because of her gender: ‘I would not have had any problem whatsoever switching seats if it were to allow members of a family or friends to sit together, but the fact that I was being asked to do this because I was a woman was why I refused.’

According to Ms Wolfson, a flight attendant then intervened and offered her a free hot drink as an incentive to move.

Despite her previous refusal, she then became concerned that this would hold up the flight. Feeling as if she didn’t have a choice, she agreed and changed seats.


‘It was the first time in my adult life that I was discriminated against for being a woman.’


‘It was the first time in my adult life that I was discriminated against for being a woman.’

‘What was even more infuriating was that there were passengers watching this happen who said nothing,’ she added.

The suit also mentioned that flight attendants told her that it was common practice in the airline to ask women to switch seats in order to accommodate ultra-Orthodox men.

A month after the flight, Ms Wolfson, who moved to Israel 13 years ago, filed an official complaint with easyJet noting that asking her to move because of her gender was a violation of anti-discrimination laws.

On another flight with the airline, two months later, she again was asked to move seats by two men on the aircraft. Although she refused to move, two women from another row agreed to swap with the men and took their seats.

She stated that in this incident, flight attendants did not intervene or try to defend her right to stay in her seat. After a second complaint made to the airline failed to get a response, Ms Wolfson moved forward with legal action.


Melanie Wolfson says she was asked to move seats on two separate easyJet flights

As well as compensation, she is also asking easyJet bans its cabin crew from asking women to switch seats because of their gender.

Ms Wolfson’s lawsuit has been filed on her behalf by the Israel Religious Action Center. The organisation was successful with a similar case in 2017 brought against El Al, the Israeli national carrier.

In a statement, easyJet said of the situation: ‘We take claims of this nature very seriously.

‘While it would be inappropriate to comment, as this matter is currently the subject of legal proceedings, we do not discriminate on any grounds.’

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
×