Couple sues United claiming daughter, 6, ‘disfigured’ by hot meal

An Israeli couple is suing United Airlines, alleging that their 6-year-old daughter was burned and “disfigured” after a hot meal slid off a defective tray table on a flight to Newark.

Michal Fefferman and her daughter — only referred to by her initials, O.F. — were flying from Tel Aviv to Newark in July 2022 when a flight attendant handed the mom a meal tray, according to the lawsuit.

Fefferman claims she placed the hot food on the fold-down table — but that it slid off and scorched the child.

“Although the meal tray should have provided a level surface so that food and/or drinks like the meal tray at issue could be placed on them safely, this particular tray table was defective, slanting downward toward the seat where O.F. sat,” the lawsuit states.

“The food contents on O.F.’s meal tray were unreasonably hot and caused O.F. to suffer sever(e) burn injuries,” it says.

Fefferman requested “prompt medical attention” but the cabin crew members were allegedly unable to provide it, “partly because United did not equip the aircraft used for the Flight with reasonable medical supplies to treat burn injuries.”

The girl “suffered extreme discomfort for the remainder of the 12-hour Flight,” according to the lawsuit filed by Fefferman and her husband, Ben, in US District Court in Chicago.

She “is now scarred and disfigured,” the family claims.

The lawsuit accused the airline of multiple failures, including not providing food at a “reasonably safe temperature,” serving a meal “intended for a child,” checking the temperature of the food and maintaining the tray tables.

The parents also claim United failed to properly train its flight attendants to handle burn injuries.

The lawsuit seeks “past and future non-economic damages for her injuries, burns, disfigurement, scarring, discoloration, neurological deficits, impairment, pain, suffering, mental anguish, emotional distress, inconvenience, humiliation, embarrassment, and the loss of ability to enjoy her life, which she has experienced in the past and/or will continue to experience in the future.”

The Feffermans requested a jury trial for medical costs and compensatory damages over $75,000.

The couple claims negligence as well as liability under the Montreal Convention, an international treaty stipulating that airlines are liable for injuries unless they can prove the passengers were negligent.

A rep for United told The Post: “We can’t comment on pending litigation.”