Drunk passenger sexually abused 16-year-old girl and her mother on Delta flight from JFK to Greece, lawsuit alleges
The plaintiffs allege that personnel on the nine-hour flight “blatantly ignored” requests for help that included stopping the suspect’s alcohol supply.
A mother and daughter, passengers on a Delta Air Lines flight, are seeking $2 million in compensation after they were sexually abused by another traveler in the middle of the plane.
The legal challenge documents, filed Tuesday in Brooklyn Federal Court, refer to the incident reported on July 26, 2022, on a trip that took off from John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) bound for Athens, Greece.
According to the plaintiffs, the subject – whose identity is unknown – had at least 10 vodka drinks and a glass of wine before he began harassing the 16-year-old girl and her parent.
The family alleges that staff on the flight, which spanned nine hours, “evidently ignored” pleas for help that included stopping supplying the suspect with alcohol. Apparently, even though they knew the man was drunk, they continued to serve him alcohol.
After the fact, the airline employees allegedly let the man leave the plane without incident and without notifying authorities in the European country of the alleged assault.
“What happened to them during the flight was not only a nightmare, it was completely preventable,” said attorney Evan Brustein, as quoted by The New York Post.
The alleged pervert is alleged to have put his hands on the minor’s back, made obscene gestures, yelled and demanded the victim give him her address and other personal information.
The man also allegedly said that he did not care that the girl was a minor.
When the mother complained, a flight attendant allegedly asked the woman to be patient. Instead of moving the subject to another seat, she instructed the man to stop talking to the victims. At this, the suspect called the mother and daughter “f***ing f***ing pu***s.”
The individual, who said he was from Connecticut, at one point went to the bathroom to vomit noisily before returning with a glass of wine.
The lawsuit states that the teenager began to experience a panic attack and put her face in the mother’s lap. Again, she felt the man’s hands run up her back. He then touched her bra and moved over the victim’s body, the lawsuit states.
The young girl jumped out of her seat crying when the predator allegedly grabbed her mother’s leg. The mother also got up from her seat and yelled at him to stop.
At that point, the victims switched seats for the remainder of the trip.
When the plane landed, the airline offered them 5,000 free flight miles as retribution for the bad time. It is unclear whether they accepted the credit.
Delta has not commented specifically on the details of the lawsuit, but insisted that they have zero tolerance for customers who engage in inappropriate and illegal behavior.