American Airlines’ statement after BLAMING ‘child filmed in bathroom’

American Airlines has issued a statement taking back a legal filing where they blamed a nine-year-old girl for being filmed in a plane’s bathrooms by a male flight attendant

Estes Carter Thompson III, 37, was arrested in January after he allegedly recorded four underaged girls – aged 7, 9, 11 and 14- as they used the bathroom aboard several AA flights. He has pleaded not guilty.

In their response to a lawsuit filed by the nine-year-old’s family, the airline argued it was not liable to the alleged victim because she should have known the bathroom had been compromised.

The airline now says it was an error by their outside legal counsel, which was retained by their insurance company.

‘The included defense is not representative of our airline and we have directed it be amended this morning,’ AA told DailyMail.com on Wednesday.

‘We do not believe this child is at fault and we take the allegations involving a former team member very seriously.’

AA put forward several defenses, including that they are not responsible because of ‘the doctrine of comparative negligence, contributory negligence, comparative responsibility and/or comparative causation.’

AA’s legal defense continued: ‘Defendant would show that any injuries or illnesses alleged to have been sustained by Plaintiff, Mary Doe, were proximately caused by Plaintiff’s own fault and negligence, were proximately caused by Plaintiff’s use of the compromised lavatory, which she knew or should have known contained a visible and illuminated recording device.’

The plaintiff’s lawyer Caroline Recupero said: ‘In other words, American Airlines is blaming a 9-year-old-girl for being filmed by an American Airlines flight attendant, arguing the child knew or should have known that the airplane toilet contained a recording device.’

‘It is our firm’s position that this assertion is both shameful and absolutely outrageous.’

She added: ‘It is our firm’s position that this assertion is both shameful and absolutely outrageous.’

Many have taken issues with AA’s legal filing, with one social media user saying the airline should have ‘sucked it up and paid damages to the children involved.’

Click here to resize this module

They added: ‘This defense makes them look heartless and downright stupid. It’s a PR nightmare that could’ve easily been avoided.’

Others have demanded the public boycott the airline over their legal response.

In the lawsuit, the girl’s parents claim Thompson took images of the girl in January, 2023, as she used the bathroom of the flight heading to Los Angeles. The girl and her family had been on their way to Disney World and a gymnastics competition.

The images, recovered from Thompson’s iCloud by the FBI, showed the girl’s face, buttocks and genitals, according to the complaint.

The alleged child abuse materials were found after Thompson was arrested after a 14-year-old girl told her family about the camera in the plane’s bathroom.

The FBI then found other victims, including the nine-year-old from Texas, after searching his devices and iCloud, as well as AI generated pornography.

‘It felt like we were living in a nightmare when the FBI showed up on our doorstep to tell us that our daughter had been secretly filmed by an American Airlines flight attendant. Since then, our daughter has struggled with fear and anxiety,’ the nine-year-old girl’s family told DailyMail.com in a statement.

‘We are doing everything we can to support her during this traumatic time. An important part of our family’s healing is making sure that the flight attendant and American Airlines are held accountable for what happened to our daughter. We hope that this lawsuit is the first step in making sure nothing like this ever happens to another family.’

Investigators said that about midway through the September 2, 2023, flight from Charlotte to Boston, the 14-year-old got up to use the main cabin lavatory nearest to her seat but found it was occupied.

Thompson then told her the first-class lavatory was unoccupied and escorted her there, investigators said. Before she entered the bathroom, Thompson allegedly told her he needed to wash his hands and that the toilet seat was broken.

After he left, the teen entered the bathroom and saw red stickers on the underside of the toilet seat lid, which was in the open position, stating, ‘INOPERATIVE CATERING EQUIPMENT’, ‘REMOVE FROM SERVICE’ and ‘SEAT BROKEN’ handwritten in black ink on one of the stickers, according to court documents.

Beneath the stickers, Thompson had concealed his iPhone to record a video, investigators said. The girl used her phone to take a picture of the stickers and concealed iPhone before leaving. Thompson then immediately went back into the bathroom.

The girl told her parents, and her father confronted Thompson, who locked himself in the lavatory with his iPhone for three to five minutes before the flight´s descent, investigators said.

The minor’s parents also informed other flight attendants and the captain was notified. The captain then contacted law enforcement on the ground.

When the flight landed, police said Thompson’s phone may have been restored to factory settings while he was locked in the bathroom.

A search of Thompson´s suitcase found 11 ‘INOPERATIVE CATERING EQUIPMENT’ stickers, investigators said. A search of his iCloud account allegedly revealed four additional instances between January and August 2023 in which Thompson recorded a minor using the lavatory on an aircraft.

American Airlines issued a statement saying they take the allegation very seriously. They also said the flight attendant was ‘immediately withheld from service following the September 2023 incident’ and hasn´t worked since.

‘They don´t reflect our airline or our core mission of caring for people,’ the statement read. ‘We have been fully cooperating with law enforcement in its investigation as there is nothing more important than the safety and security of our customers and team.’