A woman and her mother are suing Delta Air Lines after they say that a man seated in their row on an international flight from New York JFK to Athens was served ten vodka drinks and a glass of wine – before harassing and sexually touching them. Flight attendants blew off their pleas, according to the women, and didn’t even report the incident to authorities. The daughter was sixteen. Eventually they were each awarded 5,000 SkyMiles.
The $2 million lawsuit accuses Delta of gross negligence and demands compensation for the victims. It states Delta flight attendants continued to serve the intoxicated man drinks even though he was noticeably drunk.
According to the lawsuit, the man yelled and made obscene gestures at the women. He moved on from creeping on the teen to touching up the mom.
The teen was “terrified” and began to have a panic attack. She put her head down in her mother’s lap — and that’s when the man allegedly slid his “clammy fingers” underneath her shirt and groped for the clasp on her bra strap. “Trembling, petrified and crying,” the teen leaped out of her seat and away from the man, the lawsuit states.
But the man proceeded to place his hand on the mother’s leg and allegedly “began moving his hand” up the inside of her thigh. She screamed too and jumped out of her seat.
However, they report that a flight attendant they sought help from told them to “be patient” and walked off – only for the man to start touching the young girl again. This only ended when,
- The man appeared to pass out briefly
- Before rushing to the lavatory to throw up (though he is said to have returned with… a glass of red wine)
- And they were rescued by a male passenger willing to trade seats, after a flight attendant was unwilling to facilitate moving them.
Delta, for its part, says that they have “zero tolerance for customers who engage in inappropriate or unlawful behavior” and holds nothing as “more important than the safety of our customers and our people.”
It surprises me a little that the mother did not… take the middle seat to protect her daughter? She didn’t want to victimized, and indeed he managed to touch her even in her seat, but I still would have thought she’d position herself between the two.
This may be the only situation where I’d actually recommend that a passenger raise their voice and cause a ruckus. Crew detain and monitor you? Great. The plane diverts? You’re on the ground and on safe ground more quickly. More likely, though, other passengers will step in more quickly to assist in place of flight attendants who are alleged to have been negligent here.
I don’t know what the flight attendants knew, what exactly was said to them (other than what’s alleged in the suit by the plaintiffs), or whether the man was actually served eleven drinks. I don’t generally fault a woman who finds herself feeling helpless in this situation. I just encourage thinking through what to do in these circumstances in advance (like an airline safety demo!) so that she’s not helpless but is more likely to react the way she’s already planned to.
I don’t believe for a second that an economy or premium economy passenger was served 11 drinks. You’re lucky in either of those classes of service to get 1 drink with the meal.
Since DL doesn’t take cash, credit card receipts will tell whether the male in question did indeed have 10-11 drinks. If he did, I think the FA’s are in big trouble.
That’s surely a lawsuit right there.
Delta deserves to lose big if the facts are proven in court. It sounds like the flight attendants are useless even for safety. I hope someone got a video of the situation but it may have been dark in the cabin. I wonder if airlines throwing people off of airplanes who object to the way they are treated has anything to do with this situation. Good job to the man who de-escalated the situation by sitting between the drunk and the woman while having the girl move to his former seat.
Aren’t the drinks gratis on international flights USA to Europe?
Wow, he touched her back and leg. That’s the accusation that’s worth $5M. Please touch my back and leg.
The actual lawsuit also stated amongst other things that a) the pax was served an alcoholic beverage Pre-departure in Coach (huh?!?), and that the pax was served 10 drinks in the first 3 hours of flight (again, huh?!?). The first three hours of flight, all the FAs would be busy trying to get the drink and dinner service for a few hundred done! Who’s got time to provide ONE coach pax with 10 drinks??
Sounds like a big liquor liability claim to me.
Why on earth are airlines even permitted to serve alcohol?
To what beneficial end?
How about writing an article on that subject please.
Wow 5000 miles from Delta the worlds most generous airline/ FF program?
How thoughtful of them
20 years later I still avoid them like the plague
But apparently there are millions who support them to redeem 500k one way in miles for Int business class on an old battered plane.Selfishly thats great for me as it keeps others off premium carriers I am trying to book.
I wonder what proof they have to pursue a solid case?
10 drinks to ONE passenger is a lot of work. I’m sure Delta’s flight attendants are too busy to “pamper” ONE passenger – especially on a full flight.
There has got to be more to this story. It seems a little far fetched.
That many drinks being served in economy sounds wild but it could make sense if the person is a buddy of one of the FAs. That could also explain the unwillingness to do anything.
As for trading seats–look at the teen’s reaction: panic. I suspect the mother was the same way and wasn’t thinking too soundly.
The amount being asked for is too high but it always is, I wouldn’t read much into that.
I wonder if he was traveling on a buddy pass to have all those drinks (although DL is very clear re: buddy pass pax behavior)
alaska airlines overserved my small female friend on a two hour flight, after stating the alcohol was compensation for not having the pre-ordered food. .. my friend got hurt and Alaska’s insurance underwriter told me to go F myself. So I made a website…. alaskaairlinesoverserved blogspot com
I still like most of your posts, but really? Victim blame much? @Gary: “It surprises me a little that the mother did not… take the middle seat to protect her daughter? ” BOTH women were assaulted. How would the mother being in the middle seat have prevented a crime?
Would Delta be less liable if only the mother got assaulted?
We all fantasize that we would act bravely and correctly in times of stress; but we don’t know all the facts.
Is this how air travel is supposed to work? if your daughter is next to a drunken creep, then you should sit sit next to the creep and get molested in her place? (that sounds like Leviticus-era SH## there) It’s not a bus-stop bench or the subway: you’re trapped in this metal tube for hours.
Or do you seriously suggest that passenger on passenger violence was the proper recourse? (And some men wouldn’t be deterred by anything short of extreme violence–especially when drunk!) Is that how air travel is supposed to work?
It is the responsibility of the airline to ensure passengers are safe: airlines delegate some of that responsibility to the captain and some to the attendants; but the responsibility to police other passengers is never incumbent on other passengers.
Does the girl deserve millions? I don’t know, but 5000 miles is chicken feed to Delta, and if they find 5000 miles is the price for allowing sexual assault onboard, they have little motive to stop it. Honestly, $ 2mil isn’t even that much of a deterrent to Delta.
The jury should not award $2M but try to make the news and award them $6.8 billion. Or deny an award.
maybe he had lots of “drink” coupons. one time I had about 15, because i don’t use them at all.
Gary, I love your site and your posts, but I’m really disappointed that your first comment on this is really to blame the victims? It doesn’t matter if he was over-served before he boarded or if the guy did get 10 drinks on the plane. It cannot be the responsibility of a passenger to defend themselves against another passenger if there is any intentional, unwanted touching.
Take out the most egregious details of this (like 10+ drinks) and it’s still troubling. A man touching one or both women in an unwanted manner, the FAs being told, and none of the passengers being moved. I wouldn’t wish it upon a mother, daughter, or sister of mine. And you should think real hard Gary about what you’re conveying in your post.
I call bull on most of this. 10 drinks in a flight Ha ha. Mom letting her 16 yr old child sit next to a grabber and cold cocking him. If that was my kid and some touch ed her the I would be beating the life out of them with my fist and if not then something else. I would not sit back down next to him unless he was ducktaped to the seat
Clearly he must be Diamond Medallion because why else would an FA not handcuff him?
What’s with the nonsense headline?
Silliness. This story doesn’t add up at all.
The victim blaming in this post is upsetting.
“after they say”
And then there is the other side of the story . . .
Victim blaming? Tough. I expect parents to protect their children.
If that was my daughter I would have definitely shielded her from this creep! Even if he was touching me. Im a adult and can deal with this better than a terrified teenage girl!