Former Flight Attendant Denied Benefits after Contracting TB

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. (WJBK) - Kristin Bonin of Clinton Township was working as a flight attendant for Northwest Airlines. On July 17, 2008, she worked a 14 hour flight from Detroit to Narita, Japan. In November of that year, she got an unsettling notice.

"I got a call from my manager from Northwest, and she said, 'You know, you had been exposed to active TB on one of your flights,'" said Bonin. "They said, 'You might want to get checked.' ... They joked about it and said, 'Oh, no one ever gets it. You know, nothing big. Don't even worry about it.'"

Bonin was tested at the Macomb County Health Department.

"I got checked, and I was positive for latent TB," Bonin explained.

It developed into full blown tuberculosis. Bonin then had a reaction to the medication, developed hepatitis and had serious liver damage. She's been unable to work.

"She's had a spiraling down of her entire health. Basically, her life has been ruined. She suffers from fatigue, from nausea. It's never going to go away, and, in fact ... her organs are at risk," said Victor Valentino, Bonin's attorney.

Delta Airlines later took over Northwest, and Bonin received disability benefits and workers' compensation for her medical bills, but that's now been cut off.

"They said ... 'We're not going to take care of your health anymore, benefits,' and I said, 'What am I supposed to do?' I said, 'I need my health insurance,' and their quote from my manager was 'go on welfare,'" Bonin told us.

She says the airlines then tried to challenge how she contracted the disease.

"You didn't get it from us. And I said, 'You notified me. You sent me the letter telling me about the flight, and all of a sudden I didn't get it from you because I'm sick.' They denied it after they sent the letter," said Bonin.

"It's quite clear that she came down with the tuberculosis while working for Northwest Airlines, which is now Delta, and no one has really stepped forward to take care of Kristin," Valentino told us.

A Delta spokesperson is reviewing the Northwest files before commenting.

Bonin's case is now before a Michigan worker's compensation court. She's also worried about other passengers on the long flight.

"So, this passenger who was sick ... got up, walked around, at least used the restroom, did other things," Bonin explained. "It's airborne. So, I got it. What about the other passengers?"