In September 2023, a flight attendant who had previously worked for American Airlines caused a stir around the world because he was said to have filmed in a toilet on an airliner with a smartphone camera. At least one of the victims was only around 14 years old at the time of the incident. The airline is now defending itself against a lawsuit that was brought against the company.

It has not yet been finally clarified how often the man, who has since been arrested on the orders of the public prosecutor on strong suspicion of a crime, illegally filmed in airplane toilets. In any case, on September 2, 2024, a smartphone was found taped near the toilet on a flight from Charlotte to Boston. This was the washroom reserved for first class passengers.

A 14-year-old girl found the cell phone and informed her parents about it. According to local media reports, they claimed that the suspected flight attendant had explicitly advised the teenager to use the toilet at the front of the plane. From this, the legal guardians derive the allegation that he could have been aiming to take nude photos of their daughter.

It was not until January 19, 2024 that the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office announced that the accused flight attendant had since been arrested. The criminal investigation is being conducted by the FBI. The prosecution assumes that the accused may have specifically targeted minors because his I-Cloud account was searched by the FBI with court approval. Recordings of children who were 7, 9, 11 and 14 years old at the time of the incidents were found. The accused is therefore accused of: attempted sexual exploitation of minors and the production and possession of child pornography.

A so-called federal lawsuit was filed against the employer, American Airlines. The aviation company asked a judge on February 5, 2024 to dismiss it because it believes it cannot be held responsible for criminal actions by employees. But that's exactly what the federal lawsuit in question is aimed at. The parents of the 14-year-old victim believe that the airline should have known about this and taken appropriate measures to stop such behavior. It would pose a danger to all passengers on board.

In any case, American Airlines believes that you cannot be held responsible for intentional criminal acts or crimes, especially if you had no knowledge of such tendencies. In the next few weeks, the responsible federal judge will decide whether the lawsuit will be heard or not. The criminal proceedings that the public prosecutor is conducting against the former flight attendant, who is currently in custody, are completely independent of this. However, no date for the criminal trial has yet been announced.