American Airlines has edited a bombshell court filing that blamed a 9-year-old girl for being secretly filmed while using a plane bathroom, claiming that the airline’s lawyers made “an error.”
The airline, facing lawsuits after a flight attendant allegedly recorded girls in airplane bathrooms, in a recent defense filing had argued the young girl should have known the toilet contained a recording device.
Following “intense media and public backlash” for that defense on Tuesday, American Airlines a day later said it was amending the court filing.
“Our outside legal counsel retained with our insurance company made an error in this filing,” the airline said in a statement. “The included defense is not representative of our airline and we have directed 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 added. “Our core mission is to care for people — and the foundation of that is the safety and security of our customers and team.”
The lawsuits against American Airlines started after a former flight attendant was arrested in connection with allegedly recording a 14-year-old girl in a plane’s bathroom on a Boston-bound flight.
Estes Carter Thompson III, 36, of Charlotte, N.C., also allegedly had recordings of four other girl passengers using airplane lavatories — including the 9-year-old girl, who’s from Texas and was flying with her family to go to Disneyland.
During the flight last year, she was secretly filmed while using the airplane toilet, according to the family’s lawsuit against American Airlines. The family is arguing that the airline knew or should have known that Thompson “was a danger.”
The amended defense on Wednesday no longer has the following section from earlier this week: “Defendant would show that any injuries or illnesses alleged to have been sustained by Plaintiff, Mary Doe, were proximately caused by Plaintiff’s own fault and negligence.”
American Airlines’ lawyers had also previously written about the 9-year-old girl using “the compromised lavatory” on the plane: “She knew or should have known contained a visible and illuminated recording device.”
The girl’s family and their attorneys were shocked by the previous court filing from the airline.
“American Airlines has clearly faced intense media and public backlash over their blaming of a 9-year-old for being filmed,” said attorney Paul Llewellyn, a partner at Lewis & Llewellyn LLP. “To claim that they filed the ‘wrong’ answer is simply not credible. But the bell cannot be unrung.
“They should never have taken such a position in the first place,” the lawyer added. “American Airlines claims to care for people. If that is true, why have they not even bothered to reach out to either family since the incident came to light? Actions speak louder than words.”
Thompson was arraigned on the federal charges connection to the Boston-bound flight during a U.S. District Court of Massachusetts hearing on Monday.
Thompson, who’s in federal custody, pleaded not guilty to one count of attempted sexual exploitation of children, and one count of possession of child pornography depicting a prepubescent minor.