A lawyer representing American Airlines shockingly claims that the 9-year-old girl who is suing the airline should have known that a creepy flight attendant was videotaping her using the plane’s bathroom. did.
Lawyers for the airline rejected the “outrageous” proposal in legal papers filed Monday as part of an ongoing lawsuit filed by the girl’s family against the company last year, the girl’s lawyer said. That’s what it means.
Estes Carter Thompson III, 37, was arrested last year on suspicion of secretly filming multiple girls between the ages of 7 and 14 over several months, according to federal prosecutors.
American Airlines wrote in a legal filing Monday that the girl should have been aware that the device was recording her as she used the restroom.
“The injuries and illnesses allegedly suffered by Plaintiff Mary Doe were caused primarily by Plaintiff’s own negligence and negligence, and were primarily caused by Plaintiff’s use of a damaged toilet; It knew or should have known that the illuminated records were included, according to one of the various legal defenses offered by American Airlines’ lawyers.
Lawyer Paul Llewellyn said the girl’s family was “absolutely outraged” by the airline’s latest legal action.
“I was really shocked and I think it’s outrageous,” Llewellyn told the Post. “The idea that American Airlines and its lawyers would blame the nine-year-old girl who was photographed reeks of desperation and depravity, in my opinion.
“What on earth is American Airlines thinking with such a strategy?”
Emails seeking comment from American Airlines and the law firm representing the airline in the lawsuit were not immediately returned Tuesday evening.
Following the flight attendant’s arrest, American Airlines said it “takes these allegations very seriously.”
The Texas 9-year-old’s family filed the lawsuit in February, more than a year after she was allegedly recorded on a flight to Los Angeles in January 2023.
In September 2023, Thompson suspected that a 14-year-old girl from North Carolina on another flight was being recorded on her iPhone as she had just disembarked from the plane’s bathroom. After coming to light, he was arrested and charged by federal agents in January.
She snapped a photo of the shocking set-up before leaving the bathroom.
Llewellyn said Tuesday that American Airlines has not suggested the North Carolina teenager is guilty in a separate ongoing lawsuit against the airline that was first filed in December.
Thompson pleaded not guilty Monday at his arraignment in Massachusetts federal court to charges of attempted sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child pornography depicting prepubescent minors. The Boston Herald reported.
Federal prosecutors said they found at least four instances in which Thompson recorded minors while they used the restroom.
American Airlines also criticized Thompson in a legal brief filed Monday, saying his actions were taken “outside the scope of his duties.”
