Man assaults teen, her mother on flight after consuming 11 drinks: Report
PTC News Desk: A male passenger of Delta Airlines reportedly assaulted a woman and her teenage daughter on a nine-hour flight. Following the incident, the complainants have filed a $2 million lawsuit against the airline, according to Fox Business.
The lawsuit accuses the airline of gross negligence and seeks compensation for the victims.
According to court documents, the flight attendants on a 9-hour flight from JFK Airport in New York City to Athens, Greece "blatantly ignored" the plaintiffs' pleas for help and continued to serve the man drinks despite his being visibly drunk and belligerent.
A lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of New York, claims that the drunk man was hostile toward the plaintiffs and inappropriate touching occurred during the nearly nine-hour flight.
According to Fox Business, the lawsuit also claims that staff reportedly let the drunken man get off the plane at its destination without informing local authorities or US law enforcement about the alleged assault.
"The intoxicated Delta passenger appeared to be getting drunker and drunker as the Delta flight attendants continued serving him alcohol," the complaint added.
According to the court documents, the intoxicated passenger was seated next to a mother and her daughter. After a few drinks, the man attempted to speak to a 16-year-old girl, who tried to ignore him. The man became violent and began yelling at the girl.
The man made "obscene gestures," demanding her address and other personal information. According to the lawsuit, the man scared her by putting his hands on her back.
The girl's mother interfered to tell the man that her daughter was under the age of 18. The man stated that he didn't care and pulled the woman's arm.
Other passengers noticed the incident because the man was screaming at them. The woman approached flight attendants and informed them she felt uneasy; they requested her to be "patient" and walked away.
The drunken man mumbled that he was from Connecticut before assaulting the minor again.
He kicked on the seats in front of them.
The incident occurred during a flight on July 26, 2022.
"What happened to them during a flight was not just a nightmare, it was completely preventable," the plaintiffs' lawyer, Evan Brustein, told The New York Post.
The lawsuit claims that when the flight attendant intervened and urged the male passenger to stop talking to the plaintiffs, the man yelled at the mother and teen, calling them "f---ing bitches."
According to Fox Business, the teenager was afraid and began to panic. When she lowered her head in her mother's lap, the man allegedly pushed his "clammy fingers" under her top and groped for the clasp on her bra strap.
According to the lawsuit, "trembling, petrified, and crying," the teen jumped out of her seat and away from the man.
However, the man allegedly "began moving his hand" up the inside of the mother's thigh after placing his hand on her leg. She, too, screamed and jumped out of her seat.
The woman wanted a seat change, but the flight attendants claimed said there was nothing they could do. A male passenger offered to swap seats with the teen girl and sit between the inebriated man and her mother for the rest of the flight.
When the plane landed, the flight attendants apologised and offered the mother and daughter 5,000 free airline miles.
- With inputs from agencies
