Man on Delta flight complained that his seatmate put an earring in her sleeve to poke him. Woman claims he was invading her personal space

Two Delta passengers have gone viral after a social media dispute stemming from an unpleasant encounter during a flight. A woman allegedly placed an earring into her sleeve after a man allegedly invaded her personal space, prompting him to question whether her actions were legal.

The man, Otto Sipe, claimed the woman intentionally tried to poke him. “Met a very passive-aggressive passenger on @delta today,” he posted on X, which is now set to private. “She was immediately angry about my using the armrest before takeoff.” He added, “She installed an earring on her sleeve to poke me. I didn’t mind until the turbulence, when it stabbed me. I calmly asked her to remove it, but she refused and told me I was taking up too much of my seat because I’m a man. This legal?”

The woman, Kadita Tubman, had a different account of what happened during the flight. She initially let Sipe use the middle armrest because he was working on his laptop. However, she claimed he repeatedly crossed into her space and rubbed against her arm. “I politely told him & demonstrated how his arm was hitting me,” she wrote on her Instagram post. “He said there was no space. I said I understood & that’s why I let him take up the entire armrest to work.”

The people sided with Tubman

According to Tubman, Sipe eventually went still in his seat, only to invade her space again. She said she finally placed her earring on her sleeve about 20 minutes before landing. “When it finally did because he kept moving his arm up & down (and not bc of turbulence like he claimed),” she wrote, “He was soo bothered.”

Tubman admitted that she actually planted an earring on her sleeve, saying she wanted him to stop touching her. She also disputed his claim that she was leaning into his seat. “I said yes, I absolutely am,” she wrote, recalling Sipe’s accusation that she was being passive-aggressive. “I said yes, clearly because you finally stopped touching me.”

People quickly sided with Tubman after she shared her side of the story. “I am absolutely on her side. You would have to be so close to somebody for an earring to hurt you. He was 100 percent all up in her personal space,” one user wrote. “Men know no boundaries, and when they learn that the hard way, they play the victim as always. A tale as old as this gender and their abusive behavior,” another commented.

While Tubman’s actions may not explicitly violate the law, deliberately using an earring to poke another passenger could potentially be considered assault. Under federal law, assault committed aboard certain aircraft can be prosecuted under 49 U.S.C. § 46506, which incorporates federal assault offenses.

Whether Tubman’s conduct constitutes assault would depend on proving intent, which may be difficult in this case. Additionally, Delta’s contract of carriage permits the airline to remove passengers whose behavior creates a risk of harm or is reasonably considered disruptive. However, the available evidence does not clearly indicate that Tubman’s actions met these thresholds.