American Airlines has issued a correction to a previous court filing that inadvertently appeared to assign responsibility to an underage girl for being surreptitiously filmed by a former flight attendant, labeling it as an “error.”
American Airlines thinks a 9-year-old girl is to blame when one of their employees does this: pic.twitter.com/a6wmR8xtL1
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 21, 2024
The airline, embroiled in lawsuits over allegations of illicit filming by a male flight attendant, initially faced 0 for its defense argument suggesting that one of the young victims should have been aware of the recording device in the airplane restroom.
NEW: American Airlines is blaming a 9-year-old girl for being filmed by one of their flight attendants in the plane's bathroom.
Estes Carter Thompson is accused of recording multiple girls by taping his phone to plane toilet seats.
In a new court filing, American Airlines… pic.twitter.com/WOO79AZ8jC
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 21, 2024
Acknowledging the public outcry, American Airlines swiftly revised its position, distancing itself from the previous statement and affirming its commitment to passenger safety and well-being.
In a revised statement, the airline clarified, “Our outside legal counsel retained with our insurance company made an error in this filing. The included defense is not representative of our airline, and we have directed that it be amended this morning.”
“We do not believe this child is at fault, and we take the allegations involving a former team member very seriously,” American Airlines reiterated. “Our core mission is to care for people, and the foundation of that is the safety and security of our customers and team.”
The legal action against American Airlines stems from the arrest of a former flight attendant, Estes Carter Thompson III, who allegedly recorded a 14-year-old girl in an airplane restroom during a Boston-bound flight. Thompson is also accused of possessing videos of four other underage female passengers, including a nine-year-old.
Attorney Paul Llewellyn, representing the family, criticized American Airlines’ initial defense stance and urged accountability from the airline.
Thompson, facing federal charges related to the incident, entered a not guilty plea during a recent hearing in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts and is scheduled to appear in court again on July 1st.
