ORLANDO, Fla. — A former flight attendant is heading to federal prison for taking photos of passengers in an airplane bathroom, and now one of his victim’s has filed a lawsuit against American Airlines.
Channel 9’s sisters station WSOC reported the lawsuit claims an 11-year-old girl was one of the victims, and the lawsuit alleges the airlines didn’t do enough to prevent this from happening on a flight from Orlando International Airport to North Carolina.
Estes Carter Thompson was caught recording a young girl on a flight to Charlotte back in 2023, and the FBI found evidence that it had happened on multiple flights. Evidence showed that he would tape a smartphone in the lavatory to record passengers, according to WSOC.
The family’s attorney told WSOC American Airlines should have known Thompson was a risk to minors because they argue his coworkers had made complaints to the airline about his conduct before this happened.
American Airlines released a statement regarding the incident saying:
“American’s core mission is to care for people — and the foundation of that is the safety and security of our customers and team. We are reviewing the complaint, and we take the allegations involving a former team member very seriously.”
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