A reportedly drunk Connecticut man allegedly harassed a 16-year-old girl and her mother aboard a Delta Air Lines flight from JFK Airport in July 2022.
The suspect, who remains unidentified, reportedly consumed at least ten vodkas and a glass of wine before allegedly sexually assaulting the pair on a nine-hour flight to Athens, Greece, according to the New York Post.
Drunk Delta passenger who was served 11 drinks sexually assaulted mom and teen daughter on 9-hour ‘nightmare’ flight: lawsuit https://t.co/yi1z3RTt8D pic.twitter.com/DsnmFydVZl
— New York Post (@nypost) July 29, 2023
The family reportedly claimed that the man “frightened” the young girl with inappropriate physical contact, “obscene gestures,” and demanding personal information, per the outlet.
Staff allegedly met the mother’s attempts for help with indifference, as a flight attendant told her to “be patient,” the New York Post reported. (RELATED: Woman Relieves Herself On Spirit Airlines Flight After Reported Two-Hour Delay)
Rather than be relocated, the man was instructed to “stop talking” to the mother and daughter, prompting an outburst of profanity-laced rage from the drunk passenger, per the outlet.
The situation escalated further when the teen allegedly experienced a panic attack, prompting her to seek refuge in her mother’s lap, the outlet noted. However, the man’s unwelcome advances persisted, allegedly reaching underneath the girl’s shirt and “fingering her bra strap,” a lawsuit filed by the family claimed, according to the outlet.
Despite the gravity of the incident, the family’s request to contact law enforcement upon landing was allegedly dismissed, the flight attendants urging them to “calm down and think about it,” the Post noted.
The family’s lawyer, Evan Brustein, stated, “What happened to them during a flight was not just a nightmare, it was completely preventable,” according to court documents, the outlet reported.
In the aftermath, the outlet stated that Delta reportedly offered an apology of 5,000 free airline miles.
The lawsuit now filed against the airline seeks $2 million in damages for the distress and trauma endured by the family, per the Post.