- American Airlines changes lawyer after backlash over bathroom voyeurism incident.
- The airline is facing a lawsuit related to a former flight attendant who is accused of filming underage girls.
- Her previous lawyers argued that the 9-year-old girl “should have known” she was being filmed.
American Airlines has hired new lawyers after its previous lawyers said the 9-year-old girl should have realized she was being photographed in the bathroom by a flight attendant.
The airline is facing multiple lawsuits stemming from criminal charges against former flight attendant Estes Carter Thompson, who is accused of taping his cell phone to a toilet seat and filming underage girls.
Police said Thompson was arrested after a 14-year-old girl noticed a cellphone with the camera flashlight on in the bathroom of a flight from North Carolina to New York in September 2023. He is charged with federal counts of attempted child sexual exploitation and possession of child sexual abuse images.
The girl's mother previously told Business Insider that Thompson used “psychological tricks” to make her believe her interactions with the girl were normal.
Attorney Paul Llewellyn, who is representing the 14-year-old girl's family in the civil lawsuit, also represents the family of a 9-year-old girl who claims Thompson filmed her on a plane in January 2023.
Lawyers representing American Airlines in the lawsuit argued in court documents this week that the 9-year-old “knew or should have known” that there was a “visibly illuminated recording device” in the restroom, absolving the airline of any negligence.
Llewellyn called the claims “not credible” and said the airline “should never have taken this position in the first place”.
The airline later retracted its claims in court, amended its complaint, and released a statement to Business Insider saying that its defense “does not represent our airline.”
American Airlines confirmed to Business Insider that it will no longer employ the lawyers who wrote the lawsuit, but did not comment further on the change.
In a statement, Llewellyn told BI that American Airlines had changed counsel “as a result of intense media and public backlash surrounding the outrageous allegations.”
“We are hopeful that with the help of this new counsel, American Airlines will take a fresh look at this case and ultimately take some responsibility for what happened to our client,” Llewellyn said, “and if they don't, we are confident that a Texas jury will make the right decision and hold American Airlines accountable.”
