The company was responding to a civil lawsuit filed against American Airlines claiming the girl, listed as Mary Doe, was “secretly filmed while using the airplane toilet” during an American Airlines flight in January 2023.
A former American Airlines flight attendant, Estes Carter Thompson, 37, who federal investigators say secretly recorded several minors while they used the bathroom on different American Airlines flights last year, is also named in the lawsuit filed in Texas.
American Airlines initially argued that the girl was at fault and negligent because she used a lavatory “she knew or should have known contained a visible and illuminated recording device.”In response to CNN’s request for comment on Monday’s filing, American Airlines said the filing was made in error by outside counsel retained by the airline’s insurance company.
“The included defense is not representative of our airline, and we have directed it be amended this morning,” American Airlines said in a statement Wednesday.
“They should never have taken such an outrageous position in the first place.”Llewellyn called American Airlines’ legal strategy “depraved” and “shocking.”“Instead of taking responsibility for this awful event, American Airlines is actually blaming our daughter for being filmed,” the child’s mother said in a statement.
Persons:
Mary Doe, “, Estes Carter Thompson, Paul Llewellyn, ” Llewellyn, ”, Thompson, Jane Doe
Organizations:
CNN, American Airlines, Airlines, DOJ, Department of Justice, Plaintiff
Locations:
Texas, Austin , Texas, Los Angeles , California, Massachusetts, Boston, North Carolina, Charlotte , North Carolina, Boston , Massachusetts