Man sues airline for 12,000$ over lack of French service

[Daverson]

Wait... aren't 7up and Sprite the same thing, I mean, if I went to a restaurant over here and asked for Pepsi in Welsh, and they gave me Coca Cola, then... that's not a lingual error, that's a case of "we do this brand, not the other one".

 

[Laser Priest]

Well, Quebec is pretty sure that it's France.

Can't say I would mine headbutting that man out of the plane.

And I'm headbutting him, so you can tell I'm angry.

 

[Klarinette]

Oh Quebec, you need to relax.

I can't imagine getting offended over something like that. While vacationing in France a couple summers ago, and I was actually quite surprised to find that more than half the people I encountered were bilingual.

Where was the flight leaving from and where was it going? Depending on those circumstances, this might be more stupid than originally thought. I mean, a flight out of say... Saskatchewan might not necessarily have bilingual flight attendants. Why would they, you know? Now, if the flight was going to Quebec or to France and there was no one bilingual, there's that.

 

[JustJuust]

well that's one more reason for me to dislike Quebec... I swear people from Quebec don't realize that BC exists

 

[goldfalsebond]

fuck the french. I learned something very interesting when i visited normandy. The national symbol of France is the fucking chicken. America has a brave, badass bald eagle, while they have the cowardly chicken

 

[maninahat]

A man from Québec sued Air Canada for not providing him with French service on the plane. The man himself is bilingual but threw a fit when the flight attendant couldn't understand his French request for 7Up and brought him Sprite instead. He aimed for 500,000$ - not for the money itself, but "to make a point" - but "only" received 12,000$ and coverage for legal fees. He also sued Air Canada for the same reason back in 2002 (and won) and tried to sue the Ottawa bus system for lack of French service (that didn't work out).

I'm from Québec myself and find this absolutely ridiculous. Yes, Canada is officially bilingual and yes, Air Canada should be offering service in both official languages, but was it really necessary to sue them over this? It's not that big a deal to switch to English if a flight attendant can't understand you - hell, I've had to switch to English numerous times on air planes, buses, or at work.

I'd love to hear your opinions on this, especially if you've been in a similar situation. Did the man over-react, is Air Canada at fault, or both?

Source: http://www.ottawasun.com/2011/07/14/air-canada-language-ruling-sparks-controversy

I think that the service should provide for French speakers as well as English, as it is not unreasonable to assume that many of the Canadian passengers might not speak both languages, and a cabin crew should be able to accommodate that. Okay, this was only a minor incident over a can of 7up with a guy who could have just spoke English. But what if this was a guy who needed immediate assistance with something serious? Wouldn't it be irresponsible if the airline hired a cabin crew that lacked the language to deal with that issue? 12 grand isn't a lot of money for a major airline, and I think the court's actions were fair. maybe the guy was just being cantankerous about the whole thing, but he probably did highlight a potentially serious flaw with the service.

 

[Snotnarok]

A sprite instead of a 7up, sounds like a case of: They don't buy from that manufacturer so here's the other option. And he's being a whiny baby about it.

 

[w1ndscar]

9 times out of 10, if a company carries coke products, they DON'T carry Pepsi products, excluding grocery stores, and vice-versa. So if I were to ask for coke, and they bring me Pepsi, Id understand, cause OBVIOUSLY they don't have coke... and I'm pretty sure that 7 Up is owned by Pepsi, so it'd make sense that they gave him sprite instead.

 

[Lt. Vinciti]

He had a good reason to sue....

How dare you hate on me for speaking a language the uneducated masses can not speak

 

[CM156_v1legacy]

If memory serves, Quebec has tried to leave your country twice. And the SC is a bit iffy on if it would be allowed

Just let them go next time. I mean, really, who wants them?

If this was against the law, the company should have been fined. But the guy does not deserve any money.

 

[Matt Oliver]

QUEBEC WE KNOW YOU WANT TO SECEED DO IT, MAKE A NEW COUNTRY FOR THE U.S. TO HOUND!