American Airlines apologizes after lawyers blame 9-year-old girl for creepy flight attendant filming her in bathroom
American Airlines apologized after lawyers for the carrier made a shocking claim that a 9-year-old girl should have known that she was being filmed in the airline bathroom by a creepy flight attendant.
The airline blamed “outside legal counsel retained with our insurance company” and said it would withdraw the legal filing.
“The included defense is not representative of our airline and we have directed it be amended this morning,” a spokesperson for the airline told The Post Wednesday.
“We do not believe this child is at fault and we take the allegations involving a former team member very seriously.”
The hurried correction came on the heels of the Monday legal filing in which the airline’s attorneys suggested that the girl who was allegedly filmed in an airplane bathroom “knew or should have known” that the lavatory contained “a visible and illuminated recording device.”
The filing came as part of a lawsuit filed by the girl’s family against the airline.
The victim was just one of several girls between the ages of 7 and 14 who were allegedly filmed by flight attendant Estes Carter Thompson III, who was arrested earlier this year.
“Our core mission is to care for people — and the foundation of that is the safety and security of our customers and team,” the American Airlines spokesperson added on Wednesday.
The representatives for the family of the 9-year-old, however, suggested that the correction was simply the airline’s attempt to save face.
“American Airlines has clearly faced intense media and public backlash over their blaming of a 9-year-old for being filmed. To claim that they filed the ‘wrong’ answer is simply not credible,” lawyer Paul Llewellyn told The Post.
“But the bell cannot be un-rung,” he continued. “They should never have taken such a position in the first place.”
Llewellyn previously told The Post that the girl’s family was “absolutely livid” about the airline’s stance.
The child’s family filed the lawsuit in February — more than a year after she was allegedly recorded on a January 2023 flight to Los Angeles.
Thompson, 37, was arrested and charged in January this year following a series of allegations that started when a 14-year-old girl from North Carolina noticed an iPhone was recording her in a plane bathroom in September 2023.
The teen even snapped a photo of the sick setup before leaving the restroom.
Authorities subsequently found at least four other instances of Thompson allegedly recording a minor while using the bathroom, prosecutors revealed.
American Airlines did not suggest that the North Carolina victim was responsible in a separate lawsuit filed against the company in December, Llewelyn told The Post Tuesday.
Thompson pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges of attempted sexual exploitation of children and possession of child pornography depicting a prepubescent minor, the Boston Herald reported.
