Passenger sues Easyjet after crew asked her to move seat for ultra-Orthodox man refusing to sit next to women

'It’s not legal under Israeli or UK law to discriminate against anyone in a public space according to their gender,' said Melanie Wolfson

New age: easyJet's first flight for 11 weeks, from Gatwick to Glasgow (Simon Calder)

Britain’s biggest budget airline is being sued in Israel by a passenger who says she was twice asked to give up her seat because an ultra-Orthodox traveller would not sit next to a woman.

Melanie Wolfson, 38, who was born in Britain but now lives in Tel Aviv, is seeking 66,438 shekels (almost £15,000) in a suit filed by a reformist group, the Israel Religious Action Centre.

Ms Wolfson is also demanding that easyJet tells cabin crew they must not ask women to swap seats because of their gender.

She told The Independent: “It’s not legal under Israeli or UK law to discriminate against anyone in a public space according to their gender, so in this case easyJet broke the law.”

The 38-year-old plaintiff, a professional fundraiser, is also demanding that easyJet tells cabin crew they must not ask women to switch seats because of their gender.

The first flight was from Tel Aviv to Luton on 10 October 2019. Ms Wolfson had paid for an aisle seat, and found the gentleman and his son in the middle and window seats.

She said that the son got out of his seat and climbed over to the row behind to avoid physical contact with her, then sought a male passenger who would be willing to change seats with her.

Although she felt upset and humiliated by the request, she acquiesced in order not to delay the flight.

On 23 January 2020, on another flight on the same route, Ms Wolfson was asked again to change seats by two ultra-Orthodox men. She declined, and two female passengers agreed to switch seats with the two men sitting next to her.

She said that cabin crew did not intervene. Afterwards, she enlisted the support of the Israel Religious Action Centre.

The centre’s director, Rabbi Noa Sattath, said: “By putting unjust pressure on the passenger to move, easyJet enabled a growing and worrying trend in Israel of segregating women in the public sphere.

“While some members of the ultra-Orthodox community misuse Judaism to justify discrimination, we are persistent in supporting women like Melanie who are standing up for their rights“

A spokesperson for the airline said: “At easyJet we take claims of this nature very seriously.

“Whilst it would be inappropriate to comment, as this matter is currently the subject of legal proceedings, we do not discriminate on any grounds.”

Ms Wolfson said:”It’s not just an issue of ultra-Orthodox men, it’s wider than that.

“If there are passengers who refuse to be seated next to other passengers purely on the grounds of their gender, race, sexual orientation, religion, etc then they should either have bought all three seats in their row or be ordered off the plane before take off without receiving a ticket refund.”

Some ultra-Orthodox communities have organised systems to purchase full rows of seats to enable passengers who wish to sit by gender to do so.