NEW YORK (FOX 5 NY) - A nurse and mother of two from Missouri says she was forced to urinate into a cup in her seat aboard a United Airlines flight because flight attendants would not allow her to use the lavatory.
Nicole Harper took to Facebook to explain that she has an overactive bladder and needed to use the restroom on the April 9 flight.
“After explaining that I have an overactive bladder and would either need to use the restroom or pee in a cup, I was handed a cup by flight attendants,” Harper said in her post.
Speaking with a local news outlet, Harper said she was humiliated and even retaliated against for relieving herself in her seat.
"It wasn`t something that I wanted to do, wasn`t something that I did to be difficult, it was the situation I was put in and I handled it the best that I could," said Harper. They weren`t apologetic, they were extremely rude about it, and then they proceeded to basically treat me as if I was a criminal for doing this," Harper said.
According to the Kansas City nurse, said she was told by attendants they would be filing a report.
United Airlines issued the following statement to FOX4KC.com. The airline denies attendants forced Harper to urinate into a cup.
"Customer safety is always our first priority. Initial reports from the Mesa Airlines flight attendants indicate that Ms. Harper attempted to visit the lavatory on final descent and was instructed to remain seated with the seat belt fastened per FAA regulations. The situation as described by Ms. Harper and our employees is upsetting for all involved. We have reached out to Ms. Harper and our flying partner Mesa Airlines to better understand what occurred."
Harper posted an update on Wednesday to her Facebook page writing that United is lying and that the incident occurred mid-flight.
"This all happened mid flight, while flight attendants were providing drink service," said Harper.
The incident occurred on April 9, the same day that Dr. David Dao was dragged down the aisle of a United flight, breaking his nose, suffering a concussion and losing his front teeth.