Gay kiss has its day in court

2004-10-15 08:13

Llwellyn Prince

Cape Town - A ruling has yet to be made in a case to decide whether a South African who wants to sue British Airways (BA) has a claim.

Neal Vincent Potgieter claims he was humiliated when cabin staff told him to stop kissing his life partner on a flight to London in 2000 and he wants to sue BA for R1.6m.

BA argued in the Cape High Court on Thursday that the Warsaw Convention, which regulated airlines, limited the airline's liability to cases of death, injury and loss of luggage.

Potgieter said the cabin crew's attitude amounted to discrimination.

He said that all he did was kiss his life partner, Martin Potgieter, in an affectionate manner.

After the crew told him to stop because he was offending other passengers, he lost his temper and refused to fasten his seatbelt for landing.

He was arrested in London, spent three days in jail and was fined £4 000. He claims the whole incident cost him R1.5m.

Potgieter says he was shocked by the behaviour of the staff, and felt extremely humiliated and traumatised.

Potgieter argued that BA was interpreting the convention very narrowly and that its interpretation in South Africa did not deprive a person of his or her constitutional rights.

- Die Burger