Denied boarding for being too ‘fat’ for her seat: How the story ended

A court ordered an airline to pay for the treatment of a Brazilian plus-size model who claimed she was prevented from boarding a flight “because she was too fat for her post.”

The influencer Juliana Nehme, 38 years old, reported earlier this year that he had been prevented from boarding a Qatar Airways flight because it was too large and she accused the Middle Eastern airline of discriminating against her because of her size.

In a post to her 167,000 Instagram followers, Juliana said at the time: “They deny me the right to travel... I’m desperate, help me, they won’t take me on board because I’m fat’.

Now, a São Paulo court has ordered Qatar Airways pay Juliana for psychotherapy so she can overcome the distress caused by the accident.

The company had previously responded to Nehme’s allegations by insisting she was “extremely rude and aggressive towards billing staff.” Judge Renata Martins de Carvalho ruled on December 20 that the airline must pay the influencer for psychiatric or psychological treatment from a trusted professional.

Treatment must consist of “one weekly therapy session worth BRL 400 ($60) over a period of at least one year, totaling BRL 19,200 ($3,000), which will be deposited into the plaintiff’s bank account.”

Judge Carvalho said that “the granting of urgent measures is a reasonable and proportionate measure to ensure that Juliana overcomes the stressful and traumatic event”.

The influencer’s lawyer, Eduardo Barbosa, called the sentence a “milestone in the fight against prejudice”. Juliana spoke of the anguish she went through, telling Brazilian media, “It was like I wasn’t a human being to them. I was a fat monster who couldn’t get on board. It was horrible.”

“Now it hurts me to remember how much he blamed me, because he blamed me a lot, I even asked my mother for forgiveness several times. I said to her: “Mom, forgive me, because by being like this I prevented you from coming home.” And she told me it wasn’t my fault”.

Juliana was not allowed to board her flight from Beirut to Doha on Nov. 22. He had been vacationing in Lebanon with his family and had arrived in the country on Air France without incident, he told his followers.

But being denied boarding on his first return flight caused him to lose his connection with São Paulo, where he lives.

Juliana said Qatar Airways did not offer to refund the 830 euros she had paid for the ticket. Instead, the influencer claimed the airline told her she had to buy a first-class ticket — which has bigger seats — for $3,000, so she could fit into a seat on the plane.

The influencer ended up staying in Lebanon with her mother, while her sister and nephew returned to Brazil.