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An American Airlines plane is preparing to land in May 2023.
CNN
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In a legal response, American Airlines accused a 9-year-old girl of using the plane’s toilet, which was allegedly equipped with a recording device. Former EmployeeThe airline now says it has asked a law firm to change its response.
The company was responding to a civil lawsuit filed against American Airlines by a girl who identified herself as Mary Doe, who allegedly was “secretly filmed using the aircraft’s restroom” during an American Airlines flight in January 2023.
Estes Carter Thompson, 37, a former American Airlines flight attendant. Federal agents say they secretly videotaped several minors He was also named in a lawsuit filed in Texas last year after he used the restroom on another American Airlines flight. The former employee is facing federal child sexual exploitation charges.
According to the lawsuit, the incident involving the 9-year-old boy occurred on a flight from Austin, Texas to Los Angeles, California.
American Airlines initially claimed the girl was negligent and negligent for using the restroom because it “knew or should have known that a visible, illuminated recording device was installed.” .
In response to CNN’s request for comment on Monday’s filing, American Airlines said the filing was incorrectly prepared by an outside attorney hired by the airline’s insurance company.
“The attached defense does not represent our position and we have instructed it to be revised this morning,” American Airlines said in a statement Wednesday. “We do not believe the child was at fault and take allegations involving a former team member very seriously.”
Paul Llewellyn, a lawyer representing the girl and her family, said he believed American Airlines’ change in policy was in response to public outcry.
“To claim that they submitted the ‘wrong’ answers is simply hard to believe, but it doesn’t ring any bells. [sic]” They should never have taken such an outrageous position in the first place ,” Llewellyn told CNN in a statement on Wednesday.
Llewellyn called American’s legal strategy “corrupt” and “shocking.”
“Rather than taking responsibility for this terrible incident, American Airlines is blaming my daughter for being photographed,” the child’s mother said in a statement. “How can you in good conscience make such a proposal?”
Last month, Thompson was indicted He was indicted in Massachusetts on federal charges including sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child pornography in connection with an incident involving a 14-year-old boy on an American Airlines flight bound for Boston, according to a criminal complaint.
According to reports, while investigating the case, federal prosecutors in Massachusetts revealed that Thompson’s iCloud account was used to identify four additional minors on American Airlines flights between January and August 2023. The company said it had discovered additional videos showing children (including a 9-year-old) using the toilet. Department of Justice.
The parents of a 14-year-old girl, known as Jane Doe, also filed a complaint against American Airlines in North Carolina after she was photographed using the plane’s bathroom during a flight from Charlotte, North Carolina.
“American’s actions immediately following the incident, including its failure to promptly confiscate the flight attendant’s cell phone and its failure to promptly notify the pilot, permitted the flight attendant to destroy evidence and further exacerbated the damages suffered by Plaintiffs,” the lawsuit states.
According to the lawsuit, Jane Doe has suffered significant emotional distress and damages as a result of the airline’s actions and is now seeking relief.
CNN has reached out to Jane Doe’s attorney for comment.
Thompson was arraigned on Monday and is scheduled to appear again in court in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 1.
