Rosemary Fecteau, an 87 year old widow from Hershey, Pennsylvania, plans to sue the TSA for forcing her to empty her colostomy bag during a pat-down.
Fecteau, who has had a colostomy bag since a mosh pit injury two years ago, is claiming that the TSA agent humiliated her in front of hundreds of passengers waiting in the security line at the Orlando International Airport yesterday. According to Fecteau, she was selected for a pat-down when the full body scanner detected her colostomy bag. Fecteau, through her lawyer, claims that she told the TSA agent that it was a colostomy bag, but the agent had “never heard of that before.” After patting down the bag, the TSA agent stated that “something feels very strange in there” and requested that Fecteau empty the contents on the inspection table nearby. Fecteau claims when she protested, the TSA agent threatened her with arrest and a $10,000 fine. Fecteau, crying and trembling, emptied her colostomy bag on the table to jeers and laughter from passengers in the security line. The TSA agent scolded Fecteau. “Why didn’t you tell me the bag was full of your crap?”
Fecteau was allowed to board the plane after the incident. A TSA spokesperson who was not aware of this specific incident, said that it appeared the TSA agent involved “acted appropriately”.