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As I wrote about earlier this year, an American Airlines flight attendant was being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) over a “potential criminal act” on American Airlines flight AA1441 from Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) to Boston Logan International Airport (BOS). A hidden camera was allegedly found in the First Class lavatory after a young girl used the restroom. Since then, the flight attendant was arrested and additional insidious acts have been discovered. A second family filed a lawsuit against him after being informed that their daughter was also a victim. American Airlines has also been named in these lawsuits and it’s firing back with a ridiculous excuse.
According to The Boston Herald, American Airlines is blaming the nine-year-old girl for being secretly recorded by the flight attendant. The airline’s attorneys claim that “she knew or should have known [that the lavatory] contained a visible and illuminated recording device.” Understandably, the family and their attorneys are shocked by this claim.
The girl’s mother released a statement that reads:
Instead of taking responsibility for this awful event, American Airlines is actually blaming our daughter for being filmed. How in good conscience could they even make such a suggestion? It both shocks and angers us. American Airlines has no shame.”
Estes Carter Thompson III, 36, of Charlotte, NC allegedly had recordings of four minors (all girls) using airplane lavatories. He was arraigned on Monday on federal charges in connection with the incident on the Boston-bound flight. He remains in federal custody and pleaded not guilty to one count of attempted sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of child pornography depicting a prepubescent minor.
The airline’s attorneys further wrote:
Defendant Thompson was not acting within the course and scope of his employment at the time of the alleged wrongful conduct against Plaintiff… this Defendant (American) cannot be held vicariously liable for Defendant Thompson’s alleged actions that occurred outside the course and scope of his employment.”
Anthony’s Take: This situation is horrible and these children (and their families) were wronged. It’s awful that American Airlines’ attorneys would try to skirt some of the blame and go as far as to blame it on one of the victims.
(Image Credits: Lewis & Llewellyn LLP and Lynchburg Adult Detention Center.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
