Lawsuit: Disabled woman injured by security at airport

Hannah Cohen, 19, was returning home to Chattanooga with her mother from her regular trip to St. Jude’s hospital where she receives treatment for her brain tumor.

Shirley Cohen tried to inform the agents about her daughter’s disabilities, she told television station WREG, but airport police kept her away.

Shirley Cohen snapped a photograph of her daughter on the ground before she says she was pushed away by security. “She was reluctant – she didn’t understand what they were about to do”, mum Shirley said.

In a lawsuit filed on June 28 that named the TSA and the various agencies that manage the airport as defendants, Cohen asked for damages not to exceed $100,000 for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, as well as negligent infliction of emotional distress.

She said she hobbled to a security supervisor and told them: “She is a St Jude’s patient, and she can get confused”.

Well, the super elite agents of the Transportation Security Administration continue to be exemplary in how taxpayer money is spent.

But agents pushed her aside, she said. But this time, when Cohen passed through the body scanner, an alarm went off, possibly due to sequins on her shirt.

Her mother alleges the guards detained Hannah and slammed her body to the ground, with her face hitting the floor, leaving the teen “physically and emotionally” injured. When the judge saw the injuries, the charges were dropped and $250 in court fees were refunded to the family. This week, the family sued the airport, airport police, and TSA.

The young woman was then led from the Memphis International Airport, beaten, bloodied, bruised, and in handcuffs – and then booked into jail. Cohen attempted to explain her daughter’s condition but her words fell on deaf ears.

“They think they are above the law”, she says.

Neither police department commented on the suit, but a spokesperson for the TSA said passengers should notify agents ahead of time if they have special needs. “Clearly there are additional facts in this matter, and we won’t comment until we address the litigation”.