Update: American Airlines says the filing in question was an error. Read more about that here in an updated story.
BOSTON — American Airlines, facing lawsuits after a flight attendant allegedly filmed girls using plane bathrooms, is blaming a 9-year-old girl for being secretly recorded.
The airline in a new court filing is arguing that the young girl should have known that the airplane toilet contained a recording device.
“Defendant would show that any injuries or illnesses alleged to have been sustained by Plaintiff, Mary Doe, were proximately caused by Plaintiff’s own fault and negligence,” American Airlines’ lawyers wrote in their defense filing.
The airline’s attorneys added about the 9-year-old girl using “the compromised lavatory” on the plane: “She knew or should have known contained a visible and illuminated recording device.”
The lawsuits against American Airlines started after a former flight attendant was arrested in connection with allegedly recording a 14-year-old girl in a plane’s bathroom on a Boston-bound flight.
Estes Carter Thompson III, 36, of Charlotte, N.C., also allegedly had recordings of four other girl passengers using airplane lavatories — including the 9-year-old girl, who’s from Texas and was flying with her family to go to Disneyland.
During the flight last year, she was secretly filmed while using the airplane toilet, according to the family’s lawsuit against American Airlines. The family is arguing that the airline knew or should have known that Thompson “was a danger.”
The family and their attorneys were shocked by this recent court filing from American Airlines.
“Instead of taking responsibility for this awful event, American Airlines is actually blaming our daughter for being filmed,” the girl’s mother said in a statement. “How in good conscience could they even make such a suggestion? It both shocks and angers us. American Airlines has no shame.”
Attorney Paul Llewellyn, a partner at Lewis & Llewellyn LLP, said: “To blame a 9-year-old for being filmed while using the airplane bathroom is both shocking and outrageous. In my opinion, this is a depraved legal strategy that sinks to a new low. American Airlines should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.”
Thompson was arraigned Monday on the federal charges related to the Boston-bound flight during a U.S. District Court of Massachusetts hearing.
American Airlines did not immediately respond to comment Tuesday.
Thompson, who’s in federal custody, pleaded not guilty to one count of attempted sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of child pornography depicting a prepubescent minor.
In American Airlines’ recent court filing, the airline’s attorneys also 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.”
After Thompson was arrested in January, the airline stated: “We take these allegations very seriously. They do not reflect our airline or our core mission of caring for people. We have been fully cooperating with law enforcement in its investigation, as there is nothing more important than the safety and security of our customers and team.”
In a previous statement to The Dallas Morning News, the girl’s family said: “It felt like we were living in a nightmare when the FBI showed up on our doorstep to tell us that our daughter had been secretly filmed by an American Airlines flight attendant during a family trip to Disneyland.
“Since then, our daughter has struggled with fear and anxiety. We are doing everything we can to support her during this traumatic time. An important part of our family’s healing is making sure that the flight attendant and American Airlines are held accountable for what happened to our daughter. We hope that this lawsuit is the first step in making sure nothing like this ever happens to another family.”
Rick Sobey, Boston Herald