A Southwest Airlines flight attendant has sued the company, claiming that the Dallas-based carrier made her work on flights carrying cats and dogs, despite suffering from severe animal allergies. According to the New York Post, the attendant, named Lisa Patterson, has been working for Southwest since 1998. But the issue never occurred as the airline didn’t have a ‘pets in cabin’ policy. But it changed in 2028, allowing passengers to bring small domesticated cats and dogs in the cabin.

After the policy was changed, she reportedly wrote to the then vice president of in-flight operations, asking them to consider her request. But after several months, she was told that her request had been denied.

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According to suit details obtained by Paddle Your Own Kanoo, the recently filed lawsuit mentions that she gets “violently ill” when exposed to pets. Her lawyers noted that she often asked Southwest to accommodate her condition by assigning her to flights without animals in the cabin. However, she claims the airline ignored her requests and forced her to work flights with pets on board anyway.

Reports have mentioned that in 2021, the airline gave three options to the flight attendants who have such allergies.

The first option was that the flight attendants could swap working positions with another flight attendant to avoid the part of the cabin where the pet cat or dog was located.

The second option for flight attendants was that they could ask to swap onto another flight without a pet in the cabin listed.

The third option for them was that she could go home without pay.

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Her attorneys argue that Southwest failed to provide a safe working environment and violated disability accommodation laws.

“By virtue of Southwest’s unwillingness to accommodate Patterson because of her pet allergies, Patterson has lost substantial revenue on flights in which she could not work in that there were dogs or cats on board,” as quoted by the outlet, the lawsuit, filed in an Illinois district court last week, alleged.

“In order to receive compensation, Patterson has, on occasion, had to stay on the flights in which a dog or cat was in her part of the cabin, which resulted in her becoming ill and needing medical attention and incurring charges for medical care,” the complaint against Southwest added.

“Southwest has, therefore, discriminated against Patterson on the basis of her disability in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, as amended by the Civil Rights Act of 1991.”

The airline has not yet issued a public statement.