Suit: American Airlines Turned 'Blind Eye' to Sex Assault

A woman is suing American Airlines, alleging she was sexually assaulted midflight by a man who'd been reported to the airline for inappropriately touching. Barbara Morgan of California says the airline assigned her a middle seat next to Cherian Abraham of Texas on a red-eye flight from San Francisco to Dallas last April, per NBC News. When the lights dimmed, Abraham attempted to put his hand between her legs, the suit reads, per Fox News. It claims she yelled "stop!" but "most passengers were asleep or wearing headphones." "I felt paralyzed," says Morgan. "It is hard to describe how traumatizing it is to have a stranger touch you like that on a crowded plane, in a confined space, with nowhere to go."

Morgan says she waited until the plane landed before telling a gate agent what had happened, but the agent allegedly "engaged in victim-blaming" and told her there was nothing they could do because the incident hadn't been reported during the flight, per NBC. Morgan says she filed a complaint through the airline's website and contacted various airline officials but received only a generic response and no follow-up. She says she later learned Abraham had been charged in 2023 with abusive sexual conduct for repeatedly touching female passengers. He was also arrested this past March for groping a young woman on a flight from Chicago to Seattle, USA Today reports.

Morgan says she felt "deep shame, frustration, anger, sadness and fear" at American Airlines' lack of initiative. She accuses the airline of turning a "blind eye" to inflight sexual assaults and of putting profits above passenger safety. "There must be accountability for the systemic failure at American that exposed unknowing passengers to a predator," the lawsuit reads, per USA Today. "It's a failure of basic responsibility," adds Morgan's attorney, Patrick J. Driscoll, per NBC. In a statement, American says Abraham has been banned from all future flights. "We take this matter very seriously and are working closely with law enforcement on its investigation," the airline adds. (More American Airlines stories.)