Trial begins over rhyme used by flight attendant

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- A flight attendant's variation on the "eenie, meenie, minnie moe" rhyme to encourage passengers to hurry and find their seats left two black women on the Southwest Airlines flight feeling humiliated and degraded, their attorney said as trial of their lawsuit began. Louise Sawyer and Grace Fuller, sisters from suburban Kansas City, were heading home from a Las Vegas vacation when the incident took place three years ago next month. As passengers were boarding the plane and looking for seats, flight attendant Jennifer Cundiff made the following comment over the intercom: "Eenie, meenie, minie moe; pick a seat, we gotta go." Sawyer and Fuller, who are black, contend that the attendant's remark struck them as a reference to a well-known racist version of the rhyme, in which the first line is followed by these words: "Catch a n

-r by the toe."

They sued Southwest Airlines in U.S. District Court at Kansas City, Kan., claiming they were discriminated against and suffered physical and emotional distress. Judge Kathryn H. Vratil ruled last year that the case could proceed to trial, and it began on Tuesday before an eight-member jury.

Scott A. Wissel, a Kansas City lawyer representing the two women, said in his opening statement that they were humiliated and degraded when Cundiff used the phrase, and decided to sue out of frustration after Southwest Airlines would not take their complaint seriously.

John W. Cowden, a Kansas City lawyer representing Southwest Airlines, characterized Cundiff's remark as an "innocent and positive use of this phrase."

She was not directing the comment solely at Sawyer and Fuller, but at other passengers who were standing in the aisle, too, Cowden said.

Fuller, of Lenexa, Kan., testified that she and her sister, who lives in Merriam, Kan., had missed their original flight to Kansas City and were placed on standby for the next one. They were the last passengers to board and could not find a seat, and she contends they were the only passengers still standing.

As the two sisters stood in the aisle, Cundiff said the rhyme over the intercom.

"I couldn't believe that in 2001 someone would say something like that," Fuller said. She said she saw a direct connection to the racist rhyme.

Fuller testified that during the flight to Kansas City she had a small seizure. After she got home later, she had a "grand mal" seizure and was bedridden for three days, she testified.

When Cowden asked if the "n-word" was used that day, Fuller said, "No, it wasn't." But she said she heard it whenever the rhyme is uttered.

Fuller said she felt humiliated, embarrassed and frustrated, and that some passengers snickered at her and her sister.

Cundiff, who lives in Argyle, Texas, testified that she had used the rhyme before on other flights. She said Southwest Airlines encourages employees to use humor to help make flights more fun and memorable.

Cundiff said she used the rhyme because several people, besides Sawyer and Fuller, were out of their seats.

She testified that she was confused why someone would complain about the rhyme. She said she asked her supervisor why what she said was racist, and that the supervisor didn't know.

It was not until she showed her mother letters written by Sawyer and Fuller that she learned about the racist version, Cundiff said.

The flight attendant testified that Southwest Airlines "makes it very, very clear" not to discriminate based on race, religion or nationality.