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An uncomfortable moment between passengers aboard a New Jersey-to-Toronto flight has renewed the debate over reasonable accommodation and the balance between competing rights.

Former Halifax chef Christine Flynn said a flight attendant asked if she would move when an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man refused to sit next to her aboard Porter Airlines Flight 121 on Monday. She declined, uncomfortable with the other passenger’s manner, she said.

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“He came down the aisle, he didn’t actually look at me … or make eye contact. He turned to the gentleman across the aisle and said, ‘Change,’” Flynn told CBC News.

The matter was resolved when another passenger volunteered to switch seats, but Flynn is now seeking an apology from Porter.

“He could have made a plan, he could have put in a request,” Flynn said on CBC of the other passenger. “When someone doesn’t look at you, and when someone doesn’t acknowledge you as person because of your gender, you’re a lot less willing to be accommodating.