Delta passenger, drunk, assaulted girl on NY

Jul 29, 2023

A New York state couple is suing Delta Air Lines after the couple says flight attendants overserved the passenger who reportedly groped a mother and her teenage daughter last summer while they were aboard an international flight.

The lawsuit, filed last week in U.S. Eastern District Court of New York, accuses crew members of negligence claiming they continued to serve alcohol to an intoxicated passenger even after the woman and her 16-year-old daughter repeatedly told them the man was unwantedly touching them and made them feel unsafe.

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During the July 26, 2022 nearly nine-hour flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York to Athens, Greece, the passenger yelled, made obscene gestures and sexually assaulted the teen girl seated next to him on the flight, the 14-page suit reads.

The man also groped and yelled at the girl's mother and cursed the women after she asked flight attendants for help, the lawsuit says.

The suit which also cites multiple Civil Rights violations, does not name the alleged victims or the apparently intoxicated passenger, but shows the passenger told the woman and her daughter he was from Connecticut.

According to suit, a male flight attendant and the apparently drunk passenger joked about how only an alcoholic would request an alcoholic beverage so early on a flight.

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The claim goes onto allege flight attendants served the man nearly 10 vodka drinks among other alcoholic beverages and that, during the flight, the mother − who also sat next to her daughter − repeatedly “begged” crew members on board to stop serving the man booze.

At one point, the suit reads, the man ran to the restroom on board and was heard vomiting.

The mother also claims that when the plane landed in Europe the intoxicated man was allowed to deplane and leave after she asked authorities to arrest him, according to the suit.

"As a result of defendant’s conduct, plaintiffs have suffered, and will continue to suffer, extreme mental distress, emotional distress, humiliation, anxiety, depression, embarrassment, loss of self-esteem, insomnia," the suit reads.

The lawsuit seeks a jury trial among other compensatory and punitive monetary damages.

“While we don’t have any specific comment on this pending litigation, Delta has zero tolerance for customers who engage in inappropriate or unlawful behavior," a Delta spokesperson released in a statement to USA TODAY on Monday. "Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and our people.”

Natalie Neysa Alund covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @nataliealund.