A 14-year-old girl allegedly filmed in an American Airlines bathroom during a flight filed a lawsuit against the airline on Friday.
The North Carolina teenager claims a male flight attendant taped an iPhone to the toilet lid and achieved the recording just before the girl entered the toilet during a flight from Charlotte to Boston on September 2.
His suit further alleges the crew’s inaction allowed a creepy flight attendant to “destroy evidence” before authorities could confiscate the iPhone.
Although the girl’s family raised the alarm on the plane, the rest of the crew failed to immediately notify the pilot or take action, allowing the male attendant to hold onto his phone until law enforcement reached them after the plane landed, potentially damaging the criminal investigation. against him, the lawsuit argued.
“[Inexplicably] American Airlines allowed the flight attendant to keep the phone and therefore she was able to delete the images on it,” the family’s attorney, Paul Llewellyn, said in a statement to The Post.
“It is surprising that upon receiving a disturbing report his phone was not immediately seized by the pilot or other supervisory cabin crew.”
Camera photos in the plane’s bathroom were taken by the teenage girl.
Federal authorities told the family that when they looked at the attendant’s phone, there were no “incriminating photos or videos on it,” the lawsuit alleges.
The flight attendant, who has not been identified, was not arrested as a result, according to the girl’s legal team.
In response to The Post’s request for comment, American Airlines said the attendant was “immediately suspended from service and has not been employed since,” and that it is cooperating fully with authorities.
The incident began when the male flight attendant approached the teenager while he was waiting in line to use the bathroom.
He directed her to the first-class bathroom, but told her she needed to use it before she entered, the lawsuit said.
When she showed up, he told her the chair was broken but could be fixed later, according to the lawsuit.
He used the restroom, but when he woke up, he saw an iPhone attached to the lid with the light on, his legal team said. He took her photo, which was included in the lawsuit as evidence.
When he came out of the bathroom and went to show his mother the iPhone picture, the male flight attendant is said to have used the opportunity to go into the bathroom and take his phone.
American Airlines is being sued by the teenager and his family. Joshua Olson
The image shows an iPhone crudely attached to a toilet seat, covered except for the very top where the camera sits, with a bright camera light next to it illuminated. On the tape covering the phone, “Seat Broken” was written.
The teenager’s mother quickly went to the same bathroom, but her phone was gone. She told a flight attendant about the photos and her husband then approached the crew members huddled in the back to show them all the disturbing images, according to the suit.
Then the father turned to the male flight attendant and told him he wanted to see his phone.
“The male flight attendant’s face was drained of color,” the lawsuit said. “He said, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have nothing to do with this.’ “
The suit alleges the crew’s inaction allowed the creepy attendant to “destroy evidence” before authorities could seize the iPhone. AP
The crew member walked down the aisle to the front of the plane, where he got his phone, while the father spoke to another employee.
“Plaintiff’s father looked down the aisle and saw a male flight attendant standing in the aisle in front of the plane, angrily tapping on his phone,” the lawsuit alleges.
When the father again confronted the flight attendant, he was allowed to briefly look at her photo but did not see any images of his daughter in the bathroom, according to the lawsuit.
When the attendant’s mother later called the FBI for an update on the case, authorities allegedly told her they could find nothing damaging on the phone, and would attempt to execute a search warrant for a deeper investigation into the device.
Authorities previously said the case was under investigation. The current status of the case is unknown.
The 14-year-old has suffered mental health problems since the incident, his lawyer said.
“I think he’s just as outraged as we are, that something like this could happen,” his father told The Post.
The family is seeking unspecified damages.
Llewellyn said he had not confirmed whether a recording had been made, but it was clear that the crew had “malicious intent.”
“Even the prospect of the recording out there is very disturbing to the girl and her family,” he said.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
