'i had to crawl': amputee seeks damages after united airlines and airport security seize scooter batteries - lithium batteries for sale

Stearn Hodge said he would never forget the shame of having to drag his body through the floor of the hotel room during the holidays celebrating his 43 th anniversary --
Because a security guard at Calgary International Airport and United Airlines confiscated the batteries he needed to operate a portable scooter.
"Climbing the floor in front of my wife is the most humiliating thing I can think of," Hodge said . ".
"It reveals how real my disability is . . . . . . I have been different since then. "The 68-year-
Retired Old contractor in KelownaC.
Lost the left arm and right leg in a 1984 workplace accident.
He now relies on a portable scooter powered by a lithium battery.
But on the way to orcoltulsa, onFeb.
26. 2017. agent of the Air Transport Security Agency of Canada (CATSA)
An officer at United Airlines asked to remove the $2,000 battery from his motorcycle and then fly without the battery, as well as his spare battery.
In making this request, the employees of bothemees mentioned the safety issue.
Stearn Hodge shows how he crawled when he didn't have a motorcycle: Lithium-
Ion batteries are a potential fire hazard, but the global standards issued by the International Air Transport Association (IATA)
Allows disabled persons to travel with compact lithium batteries for medical equipmenton luggage.
Hodge said that no one from CATSA or United Airlines would listen to him or read the IATA documents he printed out, and that his battery was allowed if the airline approved them in advance
Hodge got this permission.
"They took my leg-
Not only that, but my dignity, "said Hodge.
He said that due to discomfort and risk of infection, he could only wear artificial limbs for a short period of time. Been wronged?
A few months ago, Hodge contacted Erica and Go PublicA, and he almost seized the battery on WestJet flight.
But a few seconds before takeoff.
After his panic
Hodge was allowed to take them on board.
He has now hired a lawyer and is working on getting his case heard by the Canadian Human Rights Commission.
Spokesman for Ottawa
The Canadian-based Organization for the rights of persons with disabilities said that the Canadian aviation industry seems to have ignored this, which is "frustrating"
Won protection for the disabled.
"It's a long struggle to make sure you're on mobile devices
Or any equipment used to accommodate persons with disabilities-
Can be carried out 【a plane]
"Terrence Green of the Canadian Council for the disabled said.
"When security can-
Even if there is a rule-
Catch What else should be able to board the plane, which makes the disabled very vulnerable.
"When CATSA's agent confiscated his battery in Calgary, the employee hinted that it was not a big deal," Hodge said . ".
"I remember the agent at CATSA saying, 'Well, you can get in a wheelchair. ' How's a one-
The armed guy who ran the wheelchair? " asked Hodge.
"How can I go down the ramp and brake with one hand?
But that shouldn't even show up.
"Hodge's wife has recently been treated for cancer, which affects her spine and she cannot push a wheelchair for her husband.
Hodgsard asked an agent from United Airlines to come to the security checkpoint because he called the airline earlier and promised to bring his battery and spare battery.
But arriving United Airlines employees are on the side of a security agent.
So one three
The week trip that was supposed to be celebrated with his wife led Hodge to spend most of his holiday in bed.
To maintain basic personal hygiene, he had to drag himself through the floor of the hotel room to the bathroom.
Hodge said: "The anniversary should be to remember how you fell in love . . . . . . And keep that magic . ".
All these things have been denied.
I'm crawling on the floor. it's pathetic.
"The United Airlines spokesperson apologized to Go Public and could not comment on Hodge's experience because he wanted the Canadian Human Rights Commission to hear his case.
Complaint resolution officer Tatricia Orija wrote in an email from the airline to Hodge, "we seem to have violated federal disability requirements, he provided Hodge and his wife with a $800 travel certificate.
She also apologized for the inconvenience.
"The inconvenience lies in the rain during the holidays," Hodge said . ".
"This is . . . . . .
Change the moment for my wife and I.
"WestJet provided travel credit in the first three months of the Manchester United incident in November.
2016, Hodgehad also encountered battery problems while traveling to Cancun, Mexico.
In this case, an employee of WestJet initially told him that he could use the battery he carried with him
But when he arrived at the security checkpoint, a CATSA agent said the battery had to be placed in checked baggage.
"Under the FAA, this is the worst place you want to put them in," Hodge said . ".
"Because if there is a problem with these batteries, they don't know where they are and will only find out when it's too late.
"A few minutes before he left, a WestJet employee confirmed that the battery could be used on the plane.
WestJet customer support agent wrote in an email to Hodge: "While I can't change your past experience, as a gesture of goodwill, I would like to offer you $350
WestJet spokesman Morgan Bell told Go public that he could not comment on the case because it was before the lawsuit, but "WestJet always makes mistakes in a cautious position, and support them in thinking that this could cause security problems.
CATSA also did not answer public questions on Hodge's complaint.
The agency did provide Hodge with a call record with customer service agent Justine Drouin, who apologized to Hodge and said "all screening officers will be briefed.
"It's like playing Russian roulette 'hodge and his wife travel at least once or twice a year and say they're the only place in Canada that has a problem with scooter batteriesis.
"Since 2015, I have flown over Europe, the United States and Mexico with these batteries and have never been detained or harassed for them.
"I was ruthlessly detained only in Canada," Hodge said . ".
He estimates that this has happened more than a dozen times in the past two years. He said the situation is now causing serious anxiety.
"I started to vibrate now when I passed the checkpoint.
I don't know what I will get.
Like playing Russian roulette.
"The Canadian Disability Council's" attack on one's dignity, "Green said, although he is pleased to provide protection for disabled people who are traveling and need to enforce these protection measures.
"This is a violation of one's dignity," said Green . " For 40 years, no organization has been fighting for traffic problems.
"In the year 1979, the government at that time said, 'Yes, we will make our transportation system accessible, 'he said. '".
"We are here after 40 years . . . . . . For disabled people in Canada, there are the same barriers to transportation.
The visually impaired Green said he had asked security personnel to question the battery in his laptop, which allowed it to "speak" when it was turned on ".
He said he received "a lot of emails and phone calls" from people with disabilities who were harassed at the airport ".
"This often happens," Green said . "
"You complained, and the first thing that happened was that the airline denied it.
"Complaints to the public of the Transport Agency inquired about the Canadian transport agency responsible for air, rail and sea travel, how often do people submit a disability application
Complaints over the past three years.
During this time, the agency received 583 accessibility complaints related to air travel, a spokesman said.
Less than 1 cent related to the battery.
The number has steadily increased since 2016.
Most of the complaints related to the delivery of the operational aids came from passengers with the operational aids-
Scooters and wheelchairsdamaged.
On September, the Canadian Human Rights Commission held a hearing in the federal court to refer Hodge's complaint to the Canadian Transportation Authority.
However, the agency is not entitled to award general damages other than those beyondof-Pocket money.
On May 9, Hodge's lawyer, John Burns, will ask a federal court judge to force the Commission to hear the case.
"The Canadian Human Rights Commission has not been able to approve access to the remedies provided for by the regulation," Burns said . ".
The Canadian Human Rights Act allows compensation of up to $20,000 per pain and suffering, and up to $20,000 if discrimination is "deliberate or reckless.
"This sends a very clear message to airlines and other relevant personnel," Burns said . ".
"People with disabilities should be taken seriously.
You don't take someone else's leg and describe it as an inconvenience.
No, this is an injury.
Hodge is optimistic that he will eventually spend his day before the Canadian Human Rights Commission.
This is an expensive effort.
In order to pay for the law, he had to sell the precious Corvette he had been working on for years.
But he said he had to fight.
Not only for himself, but also for the disabled.
Hodge said: "What I like more than compensation is [legal]
Decided someone could go and say, 'You did it here, you can do it for me.
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