Coach Berated With Racism After Voluntarily Switching Flight Seats

Lauren Price, a coach and founder of the DMV Prime Elite girls flag football team, found herself in a nightmare scenario during a trip home to Baltimore. She was traveling with 19 people, nine of whom were athletes on her squad. The trouble started while boarding at an airport in Minnesota. Price had taken an open seat meant for another teammate who missed the flight. On a past journey, she faced no issues there. This time, however, Jean Riegelman, a 66-year-old flight attendant for Sun Country, approached them and demanded they move.

Riegelman was actually relocating someone else from an emergency row into the spot Price occupied. The coach agreed to shift seats willingly. Yet, she says the older woman did not stop. Instead, Riegelman allegedly berated the entire group with racist language. "You people need to learn to sit in your assigned seats," Price recalled hearing repeatedly and loudly. As a white speaker addressing her, a black passenger, Price described the comments as intentionally hateful on Facebook. No one in the group responded verbally to these slurs.

When Price attempted to clarify the misunderstanding, Riegelman reportedly threatened to eject them from the aircraft. The coach's father stepped in and asked the attendant to stop speaking to his daughter that way. Riegelman allegedly replied she could do whatever she wanted before announcing they were removing two people from the plane. "It was awful," Price told Daily Mail after the incident occurred. "That language is a choice."

Security personnel arrived on the scene shortly after. They gave the pair exactly 60 seconds to leave the jet or face detention by airport police. Price and her father grabbed their belongings and walked away, leaving their children behind on the flight where they were cared for by Price's sister. The aftermath brought further financial pain. Sun Country, an airline owned by Allegiant, claimed they could not provide return flights to Baltimore for three days nor allow booking on another carrier.

Price needed her mother present for her children's appointments. She and her father ended up purchasing new tickets on Southwest Airlines for hours later. That decision cost them roughly $500 each. A different Sun Country employee approached them afterward, stating a safety complaint had been filed and expressing hope for a refund. By Thursday, the airline contacted Price to issue refunds for two original return trips. Sun Country has now confirmed it is investigating the matter.

Sun Country Airlines issued refunds, but those funds could not cover the cost of Southwest flights, leaving Price and her father still out the money. Her sister reported that a flight attendant refused service to their group before forcing another crew member to handle them. While deplaning, Riegelman allegedly tried to swat the phone from Price's sister's hand as she recorded events. That altercation led to charges in Maryland where Riegelman faced a second-degree assault indictment on Tuesday. A summons was also issued for the flight attendant involved in the incident. An airline representative stated that Sun Country takes such reports very seriously and is currently speaking with the passenger to gather all details surrounding the situation. The carrier did not answer questions regarding Riegelman's employment status. Price told the Daily Mail she will never fly with this airline again because the experience traumatized her children. The Daily Mail has reached out to both Allegiant and Riegelman for comment on the developing story.