A woman has filed a $200,000 lawsuit against American Airlines alleging the flight crew failed to protect her from a passenger who moved into the seat next to hers while she was sleeping, then “masturbated to her” and—well, you’ve seen “There’s Something About Mary”? Yeah, that.
From the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:
The woman slept most of the flight, but awoke about 20 minutes before landing when the pilot announced the plane was on descent into Los Angeles. When the woman opened her eyes, she saw that an unknown man had moved into the seat next to her and was staring at her as he masturbated, the suit states.The woman turned toward the window in embarrassment and in an act of nervousness began to run her fingers through her hair where she noticed “a substantial amount of an extremely sticky substance in her hair,” the suit states.
The woman began to cry and tried to get the attention of a flight attendant, but was unsuccessful, the suit states. Finally a passenger in the row in front of the woman comforted her and verified the semen in her hair, the suit states.
When the plane landed, employee called airport police and the man was arrested.
The suit claims that during the police investigation, the flight crew acknowledged they saw the man move from his assigned seat to the seat next to the woman while she slept.
(Thanks to Rob!)
“Woman files lawsuit against AMR because passenger next to her masturbated while she slept” [Star-Telegram]
(Photo: Cubbie_n_Vegas)
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@Thomas Palmer:
Yep. Sick. Immature. And FUNNY.
@UX4themasses said “Taking out the intent of the masturbator, does this mean that anytime I get sneezed on, farted on, coughed on, or in the case recently, THROWN UP ON… I can cash in on 200K?”
How can you ‘take out the intent’? Intent is a pretty important part of the equation. I might even be so bold as to say that it’s the only part that really matters. Any lawyers in the house want to tell us how important intent is? Accidents happen, people get sick (especially on planes), but someone puking on you unintentionally, nasty as it is, is very different than some guy getting his jollies by blowing a wad on you while you snooze.
Question: if the flight attendants couldn’t get up to help her because the plane was landing, then how come the guy could get up a move seats?
AA absolutely should be liable. A woman was sexually assaulted by a man who moved seats in flight, masturbated and ejaculated on her head. How on earth could a flight crew not notice and act accordingly?
On the subject of joking. I understand to some degree the desire to make humor of sexual topics, but keep in mind that this woman, like SO many in the world was the victim of sexual assault. Joking might not hurt you or the other commentors, but it’s very likely that a victim of sexual assault will come by and read the comments here and anyone who has a friend or family member who’s been sexually assualted will know how precisely insesistive and harmful it can be to make jokes out of such a serious matter. I’m not trying to tell you what to do, but please keep this simple fact in mind before you post.
@Dooley: i nominate your comment @ 1:19 for comment of the day. but there were some close seconds,
@BugMeNot2: @11:36
@LionelEHutz: @10:22
@ClayS: @ 9:45
@ceejeemcbeegee (just debatin’ not hatin’): From the way the story reads, he moved over there before they started the descent. The woman only woke up and noticed him there once they announced they were on final approach.
How did this guy not get caught? It’s like narc city every time I…eh.
@Rectilinear Propagation: yup. me, i could easily kill a man, but i’m too connecticut to make a scene. i thought it was pretty funny until i read the part about the money shot landing on her person. if she had slugged mr. deranged/entitled, no doubt she would have been hauled away in cuffs. now, i don’t make a fuss initially, but i can burn, baby. i’d hunt that motherfucker down and do anything in my power to MAKE HIM PAY. i hear it’s worth about $4300 a pop in D.C.
@Dooley: Keep trying with your sophomoric jokes. You haven’t been funny yet. What are you, 13 years old?
Isn’t this why the icon of the attendant on the call button is holding a cup? I thought this was meant to indicate a sperm receptable is needed.
To everyone suggesting that she should have beaten the crap out of him: well, yes, that would have been satisfying. But it sounds like she was trapped in the window seat by this guy. If she’d punched him and he punched back, she’d have no way to get away.
And yes, I do think AA is liable; you’re trapped on an airplane for the duration of a flight. It’s not like other modes of transportation, where you can get off at the next stop or switch cars if someone’s bothering you, or call the cops about the creepy guy in the station. Consequently I believe that that airlines assume a reasonable level of responsibility for your safety and comfort while you’re on board. Surely that includes appropriate action against rogue masturbators.
So if you bother the flight attendants or get into arguments with them you get stopped by airport police, but if you have someone jizz in your hair, they aren’t going to do anything about it. Well I guess in the end they did, but man the flight attendants could have saved AA $200,000
i don’t see how aa can be responsible for the acts of others. ex: how can they ensure no-one will shout out obceneties or, pee in the seat, etc….
the guy got arrested, he was not representing the airline. how can they guarantee no one will whip out their penis? i mean they’d have to assign a cockwatcher for every male passenger, and i bet i’d still be able to whip mine out if i wanted to. i’m not tiny, it would take a pretty decently sized guy to physically stop me from doin it. so i just can’t see blaming aa. if a streaker runs out during a football game, you wouldn’t be able to sue the nfl. if a woman got raped in a public restroom, you can’t sue for that either.
Something similar happened to me while I was flying cross country to visit colleges as a high schooler. I’d fallen asleep and I woke up to the dude next to me worming his hand under the waistband of my jeans.
I started hollering a blue streak and trying to shove him away from me (which was kinda difficult since I was wearing my seatbelt). The FA ran up and ordered him to an empty row (this was before epic overbooking became the norm), but I was never asked if I wanted to press charges and the perv followed me off the plane and watched me get into a cab.
Heck, she’s not asking much at all. I’d sue them for millions. 200K is pocket change; that won’t make any difference. The liability is theirs when they did not come to her aid.
@Slick36:
I guess yo mama’s used to it.
I was a flight attendant years ago and I can tell you that, if I had seen a guy move next to a sleeping woman in the middle of the flight, I would have been highly suspicious and would have kept a watch on the perv. I agree the airline should share some liability; on the other hand, I’m not sure they should share $200,000 worth of liability. Where do people get these figures?
I hope they don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. If the FAA sets some stupid rule saying passengers can’t move around (and into empty rows/seats) then…
@snoop-blog: I think your analogies miss the fact that this woman was cornered on a plane and this was sexual assault, not exposure or streaking.
Though, regardless of what we here conclude, the decision as to whether or not AA is liable will ultimately come in court and the POS who perpetrated the act will now have to register as a sex offender.
I just really wish the joking would stop.
I can see limited culpability on American Airlines. They did not respond to shreiking (if she did) and did not notice the act when they did their about-to-land checks.
$200k? Uh…. The creep should pay dearly but I think American is being taken advantage of.
Wonder why prices of various goods and commodities go up?
@Dooley: +100 points for you!!
@Claystil: it’s just shocking to hear, and some people use humor to cope with it. no one on here feels like she deserved this and it is horrible. with that said though, my friends would never let me hear the end of it if it was me. i’d forever be known as the guy who got jizzed on at work. and i can’t say i wouldn’t be able to laugh with them cause i would. it’s like laughing at someone because they got pee’d on. c’mon, it’s a little funny. i laugh when people get hurt sometimes, it’s funny!
@snoop-blog: My point is simply that there are a LOT of people in this world who live every day with the lasting negative psychological effects of sexual assault. I wouldn’t make a joke about sexual assault to their face, and I’d like to hope no one would. The likeliehood that many victims of sexual assault have and will read this comments is high. So joking here is not all that different from making the joke in their presence. If it’s funny to you, why can’t you keep it to yourself? It’s not funny to everyone and it hurts some.
@Claystil: well i do have a perverted sense of humor. if it makes you feel any better, i meant to delete my previous comment, but i brainfarted and hit submit by accident. i want the op to know that despite the fact i find it humorus as after the fact, if i would have been there i would have helped her, even if that meant i was going to jail for whoopin that dudes ass. so us jokesters aren’t all bad. but it’s chris walters fault for mentioning something about mary, and making me go into the comments already smiling.
sorry to throw you under the bus there chris, you know we’re homies still right?
@sourc3: hey, say BOO on an AA flight and they’ll land the damn thing and have your ass arrested – i know, my bro works for them. AA sucks, that’s good enough reason to sue them.
yay for claystil vis a vis “A woman was sexually assaulted by a man who moved seats in flight, masturbated and ejaculated on her head. How on earth could a flight crew not notice and act accordingly?”
How on earth, indeed? Well, they’re not ON the earth, but that’s totally beside the point.
Now I see what the big fuss was over the girls that were ‘too hot to fly’. Maybe the airlines had something there after all.
Here’s what I don’t get. The event happened two years ago. Why is that the only story I can find pre-lawsuit? The man was arrested. Was he tried? Convicted? Does he have a name?
There was a lot more information on this remarkably similar incident.
@suzyO: How could they miss it? It was a night flight, landing about 11 p.m. I assume he didn’t turn on the overhead light. Many other passengers might have been sleeping.
@j-yo: By starting with a threat of $750,000. That’s like 73% off!
Ok, I just have to say that 200,000 is not a huge amount of money… American Airlines is the largest airline in the whole wide world, and their executives get year-end bonuses of millions of dollars, dang, each exec could chip in a measley 10 grand out of the millions they will get at the end of the fiscal year.
Hmm maybe the woman suing could offer them a deal, any exec willing to take a load in the face from a stranger could keep his 10 g’s. If 20 execs agree to facials, they wouldn’t have to part with any money at all.
Would this story be quite as funny to some of you if the man had instead masturbated and ejaculated on a child traveling alone?
I think the comparison of this incident to a fellow passenger accidentally sneezing or vomiting on you reflects the deep gap in understanding that many men seem to have about sexual assault and harassment. If a gay pervert did that to you I don’t think you would treat it like an errant sneeze.
I certainly wish that all people were tough enough to fight back and assert themselves in situations like this. But it’s not right to blame the more timid among us for not having the same savage capacity to strike back at those who victimize.
Speaking of which…what were the other passengers doing? Didn’t they see this?
This story makes me so sad. Jokes aside, I can only imagine how trapped and horrified that poor woman felt.
When I worked at a shoe store many years ago, a man asked me to get his size in a particular work boot, as he hands it to me I notice he’s got his shorts hiked up with his penis in his other hand just stroking it. I took the shoe from him and said he might need something in a smaller size. Then ran to the back, called security and had a good old-fashioned freak out. I was pretty upset about it, but really, what pissed me off so bad was that he did this in a crowded store with children all around. How dare he.
@halajenn: This story makes me so sad. Jokes aside, I can only imagine how trapped and horrified that poor woman felt.
What I wonder, and I’m not joking, is what the guy did when she woke up…
She wakes up, kinda cries and yells to get some help, the person in front of her comes to her aid and tells her yep, “that’s jizz in your hair”
What was the guy doing, did he scamper back to his seat and pretend like nothing happened? Did he stay in the seat next to her and just tuck himself back in? Did he go “oh my god im so sorry please don’t call the cops” and beg for mercy? I mean jesus h what do you do when your victim wakes up mid-molestation and you have to spend another 15 minutes on the plane with them? (and with everyone else who gets word of what happened) He must have been feeling trapped and horrified himself. Did only one person take note of her distress? Were there no manly men on board to punch the guy a couple times for good measure?
yeah I’m not sure AA is to blame on this one. While i feel bad for her, she and/or her lawyer is out to make a quick buck. I’m betting AA will settle just to avoid further publicity. They need to sue the sicko for all costs.
As for the cabin crew doing something about it. they were on descent. Their job is to look out for passenger safety (albeit this might fall into that if you stretch the definition), clean up and stuff like that. Their job is not to look for masterbating passengers.
Still if they had caught him, they should have opened the door at about 1000 feet and chucked him out.
I have nothing productive to add to this other than to say that this is, by far, the most entertaining post and comment thread that I have read in a long, long time.
Good work, airplane maturbating man, good work!
@Thomas Palmer: No, they are the ones that are sitting in at the computers in the library acting like they actually know anything. Some of these comments are really disgusting. But I did predict that there would be those who would blame the woman.
This woman was sexually assaulted. That’s not funny. And to the one who said that the woman was coming off as a whore…you are an idiot.
The flight attendants always walk up and down the isles looking at people’s laps to see if they have their seat belts on. They probably just didn’t notice that he was holding his manhood because he had his seat belt buckled. I wonder if they cleaned that seat?
How did they not notice someone jerking off? Well, it’s a night flight, so low lights, and possibly people sleeping. The seats are past head height. She wasn’t in the first row that is not blocked by another row. If there was a movie playing, everyone is looking at their tv set or at the front of the seats. If it was a side with three seats, two empty and hers between the window, he would be on the inside seat. Blankets could have been used to hide himself. Probably not the first time he’s jerked off in public, so he could know to be discrete. He’s awake, so he could see/hear the stewards walking around.
Anything other questions?
3 words of advice to the ladies flying on AA…Wear shower caps
@alphafemale: I personally don’t give a rat’s hairy ass if he felt trapped and horrified. Let him feel trapped and horrified. I got the impression he continued with his action.
Manly men? They have gone out with the dinosaurs and polite men.
I don’t know if we are allowed to put comments from other sites on here so if we can’t please remove this for me but I thought this was a great one. It came off the blog mentioned.
“I’m going to say something that is not politically incorrect.
She is ONLY 21 years old. Yes, I know that 21 year-olds can drink, drive, carry a gun, graduate from college, and begin a family, HOWEVER, for some folks, life takes years of living before one is truly an “adult.” Merely “feeling” grown up does not make one grown up.
I am much older; I would have clobbered the guy and yelled my head off.
It would not have occurred to me to “turn toward the window in embarrassment.”
Yes, I know that it depends on the person and that other 21 year-olds may have handled the situation differently, and with more assertiveness.
I know that she was traveling as a fully emancipated adult; she didn’t need a note pinned to her chest, she didn’t need flight attendants to accompany off the plane, she didn’t need a Happy Meal, she didn’t need plastic pilots wings, or a coloring book. But, when I realize that the poor thing really didn’t know what to do, I truly yearn to give her a hug and a coloring book, at least for a moment, before I sent her off to an assertiveness class. My point is that 21 is still very young.
I hope the judge throws the book at this sick-o pervert who looked at this very young woman as his own personal Playboy foldout to be used for uncontrolled gratification.
This woman (very recently a “girl”) is someone’s daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece, aunt, cousin, loved one, classmate, colleague, employee, and friend. She deserved respect. However, while this vile pig refused to respect her, our Constitution demands that she reserve the right to be left alone. For that, she will have her day in court. But, we would all be better off if the incident hadn’t happened in the first place. I cannot begin to imagine how I would feel if she were my daughter.
Somehow, I doubt that this was his “first time” violating young women; perhaps the others were even more embarrassed than his latest victim. I usually fall asleep on any flight that takes longer than an hour; next time I think I’ll look around a little more carefully. Sometimes, 21 year-olds can use a little bit of help along the way.
Posted by: Schopenhauer | March 15, 2008 at 05:19 PM”
@thelushie:
It is very late for this reply. I am reading the years worst. I felt the need to coment on how much I like your comment. As the father of 6 daughters I am a manly man and so is my only son we would have both gone to jail but the perv would have gone to the hospital. I often wish for someone to protect from the world but sadly to often my view of right and wrong is not shared. From the screaming child hitting their mother to the drunk asshole mistreating his girlfriend my attempts at intervention have been rebuffed but not every time. I wish everyones daughters would be safe from this type of thing.
@thelushie: well said, thank you.
best comment on entire post.
@everyone saying this is sexual assault:
In order to be classified as sexual assault, there must be actual sexual contact. While this is still deeply disturbing, it’s not sexual assault.
Why is she suing AA instead of the perpetrator? Is it simply because AA has deeper pockets?
To be fair…the man was just trying to lower the amount of semen in his pouch to less than 3.4 ounces.
And to think…if it wasn’t for Susan B Anthony, the girl would have been obligated to help…
How do they know that he was, in fact, masturbating? Are we sure that he wasn’t trying to “inspect” his “fuselage” for cracks?
There needs to be an Air Marshall on every flight. This is ridiculous. There also needs to be a way to transfer a perpetrator to another seat, perhaps in the back near the Air Marshall for monitoring. We can not have lawlessness in the air. Absolutely ridiculous!
@ecwis: One, without knowing all state laws, you cannot say that is not sexual assault. In New Jersey, while it is not considered Sexual Assault by name anymore (This would now be Aggravated Criminal Sexual Contact (2c:14-3a [3rd Degree Crime = 5 years max]), it is still a Sexual Assault of a different degree. That is, if he used her hand to masturbate.
Note, if she was 13 or younger, it would be Sexual Assault (2c:14-2b), if he used her hand.
If she didn’t see him masturbate, he technically wouldn’t have committed a crime. As it is, from what I can see in NJ statures ([www.njleg.state.nj.us] click on Statutes under Laws and Constitution on the left side bar), him simply ejaculating on her isn’t a crime, if she didn’t see him. It might be Lewdness (2c:14-4a when read under 2c:14-4c) if a prosecutor can convince a jury that
Since he choose someone that was asleep, he could use that to his defense. He did not reasonably expect her to observe it.
Again, in NJ, indecent exposure is under Lewdness, so simple pulling his junk out would not be a crime if noone is there to observe and then be offended.
I think it relates to the whole fallen tree in a forest question.
@Project Thanatos: Nope, you’d need actual penetration, and since they were close to landing, the “mile-high” may not be part of that aspect anymore, since you’re not going to be a mile-high when near landing.
@alphafemale: I agree, it may have been more than just him ejaculating on her. He may have stole some IDs or even copied card information, or maybe he even touched her in some way that may have put her at more risk.
And about the “intent” thing, I wouldn’t be surprised if they argued he didn’t intend to ejaculate in her hand, it happened b/c of a natural bodily fuction. Or that her hand wandered there on its own or some other BS.
This situation disgusts me greatly, and makes me creeped out to even consider catching a few Zs on a flight. D:
To those suggesting that AA shares some blame in the event due to her being unable to get their attention, typically in the last 20 minutes of a flight they’re doing their landing checklist and getting strapped in for the touchdown. It’s possible that they were unable to get to her because of FAA regulations.
@suzyO: well, where are they if not on earth? IN? Above? “How above earth…”
@ecwis: I see that people have already showed how wrong you are but just in case you needed more evidence, this definition comes from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services:
“Sexual assault can be verbal, visual, or anything that forces a person to join in unwanted sexual contact or attention. Examples of this are voyeurism (when someone watches private sexual acts), exhibitionism (when someone exposes him/herself in public), incest (sexual contact between family members), and sexual harassment. It can happen in different situations, by a stranger in an isolated place, on a date, or in the home by someone you know.”
@cde: good answers, but ultimately the suit claims that AA noticed the man move seats and did nothing about it. All this happened BEFORE descent, meaning he had time to masturbate while the attendants were still walking the isles.
@alphafemale: Hmm maybe the woman suing could offer them a deal, any exec willing to take a load in the face from a stranger could keep his 10 g’s. If 20 execs agree to facials, they wouldn’t have to part with any money at all.
This is by far the best comment I’ve read on this story. I’m thinking some of the commenters also need a stranger’s load in their own faces, since they find sexual assault so amusing (or as one mentioned, only amusing in the context of women).
If you’re going to joke about the victim at least use creative examples; Dane Cook-style phrases that have been repeated 1000 times that day just don’t cut it.
I live in NYC, so if I had a nickel for every exposed penis I’ve seen on the streets, in the trains, etc. I’d never have to work again. However, when this kind of incident happens in a place you least expect, it can take a few seconds for “WTF?!” to travel from your brain to your voice (or fist). If there’s any doubt to what you’re seeing and you react accordingly, you will be at best humilated by the flight attendant and passengers, and at worst arrested.
If you’re trapped at 30,000 feet, yeah I think you have the right not to expect to see some stranger’s nubbin (and associated fluids).
@se7a7n7:
no they do have to protect you just let me carry my gun on for stuff like this and were even.
I would have killed his ass period
Everybody is just after a windfall these days. It is in no way the airlines fault that that some pervert ejaculated on her. Given that an employee got security involved, what else could they do since she never brought this to any other employees attention till the act was long over and done. This sounds to me like she was in some way involved and then had reservations afterward. Even if that’s not the case, the one to sue is the pervert. I hope she loses the case and gets stuck with a huge attorney’s bill. I’m sick of people using the courts to sue themselves into prosperity. The airline should have me on a jury should they decide to go to court rather than settle. I’m no corporate shill, and I think companies should be held liable for their misgivings. This act however had nothing to do with the airline at all.