America Airlines ruined wedding gown, bride's lawsuit claims

Growing up, Yewande Oteh dreamed of being married at her grandparents’ hotel in Montego Bay, Jamaica. But that dream crumbled in August 2015 when Oteh, who grew up in this Philadelphia suburb, took an American Airlines flight to the Caribbean island with her family — and her wedding dress. In a 31-page lawsuit, Oteh, who now lives in Boston, alleges a flight attendant “egregiously” destroyed her dress following a dispute over the gown aboard the commercial jet. “American Airlines and its personnel robbed all of us of this once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Cherry Hill lawyer Yvette Sterling said. She filed the suit in federal court in Camden, N.J., on behalf of Oteh, her daughter. Oteh’s problems began after a ticket agent at Philadelphia International Airport advised her to remove her gown from checked luggage and to hang it in a closet on the plane, according to the suit. A flight attendant, Melanie Masters, would not allow Oteh, then 31, to use the employee-only closet and told her to put the gown in an overhead bin, it says. Masters rejects the lawsuit's description of events. "It really didn't go like that at all," she said Wednesday. Piece has more details.<br/>