When you don’t follow a flight attendant’s instructions we’ve all learned what can happen. They call the police to go all David Dao on you. But like the American Airlines flight attendant last year who grabbed a stroller and nearly hit a baby sometimes instead of outsourcing they take care of business themselves.

Credit: Jimmy Kimmel

That seems to be what an American Airlines passenger is alleging. He says he was flying home from Charlotte to Philadelphia, the last segment of an international trip, when – he says a flight attendant “pinned his right arm down” while “repeatedly punching [him] in the face and back of the head.” And he’s suing:

Lagana says the assault by flight attendant Lance Wiley occurred while Lagana was seated on American Airlines Flight 1798 with his seat belt on.

The complaint doesn’t specify the circumstances of the incident other than that the “sequence of events was external to the plaintiff” and that he “was not involved in any wrongdoing that jeopardized the safety of the aircraft.”

The blows left Lagana with a traumatic brain injury, severe headaches, and other impairments that required “neurosurgical treatment,” according to the complaint.

American Airlines says they are reviewing the complaint. It does seem that not ‘specify[ing] the circumstances of the incident’ almost certainly would suggest that those circumstances are less than favorable towards the complainant.

(HT: @DupontCircleDC)