Whatever the rights and wrongs are in an airline having such a ruling, Mr Fischer should not have been asked to move in such a way as to embarrass him.
What happened to innocent until proven guilty ?
No wonder he feels upset enough to sue.
I hope the cabin crew member concerned learns from this little escapade.
And I personally think this is the core of the dilemma! It is not so much that BA do not want UMs sitting beside men, its because Mr Fischer was dealt with very poorly and was made to feel embarrassed as the crew member clearly failed to use any tact in the enforcement of the rule!
At the end of the day, agree or disagree with the rule, us crew must enforce it (and those attacking Jetsetlady deserve a slap for accusing her of being a jobsworth, from reading her replies over time she actually sounds like a hoot to work with) as that is their job! There are sooooo many rules and regulations that us crew must follow, so many of them are stupid and futile (and I can think of at least two others which could be considered offensive by some but am soooo keeping those to myself) but at the end of the day we must do them. We can take it up with who ever sets the rules but until we are told otherwise we must enforce!