Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Virginia

I'd Take the $75

This response to your posting is not intended to be the giving of legal advice or the establishment of an atorney client relationship. Proper legal advice can only be given with FULL knowledge of all facts and this Office does not enter into attorney-client relationships except by written fee agreement.

Having said that, I cannot tell, for example, whether your spouse's assigned seat was obviously wet when she sat in it and whether there were any other seats to which she could have been switched when she discovered that it was wet. Under a traditional "premises liability" negligence analysis, the plaintiff must prove that there was a dangerous condition of which the controller of the premises was aware, that it negligently failed to correct the condition, and that someone properly on the premises suffered identifiable injuries as a result of such negligence. Contributory negligence is a complete bar to recovery in Virginia. Thus, if your wife sat in an obviously wet seat, it is unlikely that she would be able to recover; if, on the other hand, it wasn't obviously wet, it may be difficult to establish that the airline knew that the condition existed. If you can overcome the liability question, you then are faced with the damages issue. While Virginia does recognize causes of action for both intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, the former is much more difficult to prove, requiring some evidence of wanton disregard for the results of one's actions. Under either theory, the best evidence of damages would probably be medical records showing treatment for the distress. My suspicion is that your wife was greatly upset about this incident, but that her upset will not rise to the level of "emotional distress" sufficient to support either of these causes of action. I would encourage her to use the $75 to get her clothes dry-cleaned or to finance some other diversionary activity to get her mind off this. I would also encourage her to feel the seat before sitting the next time she flies on this airline.