A Texas woman is suing American Airlines for $6 million after claiming she was groped and sexually harassed when flight attendants over-served alcohol to the drunk man sitting next to her.
The woman, who hasn’t been identified, was flying on an American Airlines flight from London to Dallas in November last year when the alleged incident occurred.
She claims flight attendants continued to serve the man next to her alcohol ‘three drinks at a time’ even after she told them he was drunk and groping her.
The woman, who was sitting in the window seat, said the man didn’t initially appear to be drunk when he sat next to her and asked if she knew a ‘good honky-tonk’ in Dallas where he could drink.
The woman, who hasn’t been identified, was flying on an American Airlines flight from London to Dallas in November last year when the alleged incident occurred
She claims he eventually started bragging that he ‘drank up to 25 beers a day’ and then proceeded to spill wine over a flight attendant.
At one point during the flight, the woman said she reached into her bag for a tea bag and the man yelled out: ‘Hey everyone, look; she’s getting a condom from her bag because she and I are going to go have sex in the lavatory!’
The man allegedly pretended to be asleep before putting his head on her chest. When she nudged him away from her, the man pretended to wake up and allegedly asked: ‘Have we had sex yet?’ and ‘Is it time to do it?’
He also allegedly slid his hand under her blanket and started to rub her thigh. When the woman got up to move, the man grabbed her wrists and yelled: ‘Please don’t divorce me’, according to the lawsuit.
The woman said she complained repeatedly to the flight attendants but they continued to serve him alcohol.
Eventually, the flight attendants moved the woman to another seat on the plane.
‘I was mad because the flight attendants had actually advised me to pretend like I was sleeping,’ the woman told NBC5.
‘It was awful. It was very frightening.’
The woman said the man was eventually escorted off the flight when it landed in Dallas (above) but he was released without charge
The man was escorted off the flight when it landed in Dallas but he was released without charge.
The woman said she has since tried to press charges but it has proved difficult because the man lives in England.
‘I tried to prevent this from escalating and I feel like I did not get the support that I needed to make that happen,’ she said.
‘If I don’t speak up, if I don’t pursue all the channels available, then that means it’s okay and it’s not.’
American Airlines said in a statement that they were ‘deeply troubled’ by allegations of misconduct on their flights.
‘If our crews discover or are told about any alleged illegal misconduct that may occur on the aircraft, law enforcement is contacted and will meet the aircraft upon arrival,’ the statement said.
‘In all cases of misconduct between two passengers, we will immediately separate them, and request law enforcement meet the aircraft, which is our standard protocol. It is up to law enforcement to determine what, if any criminal activity, took place.’
