American Airlines fires law firm that claimed sexual harassment victim attacked by flight attendant was to blame

American Airlines immediately fired a law firm that had claimed that the blame lay with a nine-year-old victim of sexual assault who had been secretly filmed in a toilet because she should have noticed the hidden camera placed by a flight attendant.

Flight attendant Estes Carter Thompson III of Charlotte is said to have targeted at least five young victims. They were filmed with a hidden camera placed in airplane toilets and were not caught until September 2023 after a teenage victim reported his suspicions to his parents.

The families of several victims have already filed lawsuits against Thompson and American Airlines, accusing the Fort Worth-based airline of negligence in failing to hire a suspected sex offender and expose his alleged crimes.

American Airlines has attempted to dismiss the lawsuits brought against it, essentially arguing that it cannot be held responsible for the criminal acts of its employees.

But in a recent statement filed in a Texas district court, attorneys at Wilson Elser, who represented American Airlines in one of the lawsuits, went much further in their defense of the airline, suggesting that the nine-year-old victim was to blame.

The defense attorneys stated: “The defendant would prove that any injuries or illnesses allegedly suffered by Plaintiff Mary Doe were proximately caused by her own fault and negligence, directly caused by Plaintiff’s use of the damaged toilet, which she knew or should have known contained a visible and illuminated recording device.”

American Airlines was accused of blaming the victim in its defense and quickly distanced itself from the document, saying the law firm had been hired by AA’s insurance company.

An AA spokesperson said the document was filed in error and stated: “We do not believe this child is at fault and we take the allegations against a former team member very seriously.”

Thompson was caught in September 2023 when he allegedly assaulted a 14-year-old girl on a flight from Charlotte to Boston. The girl noticed Thompson’s iPhone sticking out a large sticker that read “poor catering” holding it up to the first-class lavatory seat and reported it to her parents.

In order to destroy important evidence, Thompson reportedly locked himself in the bathroom and reset his iPhone to factory settings before the plane landed. However, investigators managed to retrieve photographic evidence from Thompson’s iCloud account.

On Monday, the 36-year-old suspect pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted child sexual abuse and possession of child sexual abuse images depicting a prepubescent minor.