The Justice of Maranhão denied a claim for compensation to a woman who sued the airline Gol for having been prevented from consuming wine from a bottle she carried in her hand luggage during a flight.
The 5th Civil Chamber of the TJ-MA (Maranhão Court of Justice) maintained, this Monday (11), the sentence of the first instance, by four votes to zero. The Public Prosecutor’s Office also asked for the decision to be maintained.
The passenger, who asked for R$ 50,000 for moral damages, claimed that she experienced embarrassment because she was forced to comply with a Federal Police procedure.
Sought by the report, Gol informed that it does not comment on judicial decisions.
According to information from the lawsuit, during the onboard service of the flight between Rio de Janeiro and Brasília, alcoholic beverages were offered, including a 187 ml bottle of wine.
After seeing the wine for sale, the passenger opened the wine she was carrying in her hand luggage and poured the drink into the glass provided by the company.
Moments later, a flight attendant informed her that she could only consume the wine sold by the airline. The Gol employee would also have warned that, in case of disobedience, the flight commander would need to be notified immediately.
According to the Justice of Maranhão, the passenger drank the wine even after the requests of the flight attendants and the pilot, violating the rules of Anac (National Civil Aviation Agency) and the airline.
After landing, the aircraft commander opened a procedure for her to be taken to the Federal Police station at Brasília International Airport (DF).
The Court of Justice considered that the passenger had “a mere annoyance”, which would not justify the payment of compensation.
When manifesting itself in the process, Gol denied that there was any moral damage and stated that the air transport contract provides for the possibility of the captain acting to intervene in the transport of a passenger with inappropriate behavior. The airline said in the lawsuit that it acted in accordance with legal requirements.
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