Lewis & Llewellyn LLP
- American Airlines is facing backlash for blaming a 9-year-old girl in a hidden camera lawsuit.
- The airline's defense claimed the girl should have seen the phone filming her in the bathroom, court document show.
- Lawyers amended the court record after criticism; American Airlines says it does not blame the child.
American Airlines is facing backlash after saying that a 9-year-old girl should have seen the cellphone filming her in the bathroom in its initial lawsuit defense.
Paul Llewellyn, an attorney for the girl's family, told Business Insider that the airline placing blame on the 9-year-old was "shocking." Llewellyn is representing several families who claim Estes Carter Thompson filmed their children on American Airlines flights in separate civil lawsuits against the airline.
Lawyers for the airline amended the court record to remove the claims of fault placed on the girl.
Thompson, a former flight attendant for the airline, is also facing federal charges of attempted sexual exploitation of children and possession of images of child sexual abuse.
Federal authorities charged Thompson after police say he taped his phone to a toilet seat during a flight from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Boston to film a 14-year-old girl in September 2023. Thompson pleaded not guilty on Monday.
Llewellyn is representing that girl's family in a civil lawsuit against the airline. The lawsuit alleged Thompson used "psychological tricks" to make her think the filming wasn't strange. He is also representing the family of a 9-year-old girl, who says Thompson filmed her in the bathroom during a flight from Texas to Los Angeles in January 2023.
The family of the 9-year-old became aware of the incident after FBI agents informed them that images of their child were found on Thompson's iCloud account, according to the lawsuit.
In a response to the family's complaint, lawyers for America Airlines denied negligence on the part of the airline, claiming that the girl "knew or should have known" that the bathroom was "compromised" because it "contained a visible and illuminated recording device."
The 9-year-old girl's mother said in a statement that the family was both "shocked and angered" by the defense.
"How in good conscience could they even make such a suggestion?" the family said. "American Airlines has no shame."
American Airlines told Business Insider in a statement that it does "not believe this child is at fault, and we take the allegations involving a former team member very seriously."
"Our outside legal counsel retained with our insurance company made an error in this filing," American said in the statement. "The included defense is not representative of our airline and we have directed it be amended this morning."
Llewellyn said that the airline's defense is "not credible" and that "the bell can't be unrung."
"They should never have taken such a position in the first," Llewellyn said.