Sexual assault on American Airlines flight result of ‘culture of indifference,’ lawyers say
The sexual assault of a woman onboard an American Airlines flight was the result of indifference and profit-driven policies at the airline, the woman and her lawyers told reporters on Wednesday.
The woman, Barbara Morgan, filed a lawsuit against the Fort Worth-based airline in federal court in California on April 24.
Morgan reported that she was assaulted by the man sitting next to her on a 2024 flight from San Francisco to Dallas, the Star-Telegram previously reported.
Morgan was traveling with her husband to visit their son, who had recently completed military service and graduated from Harvard University, she said during a online press conference Wednesday.
The airline assigned Morgan a seat separate from her husband and told her she would have to pay extra to be seated next to him, according to the lawsuit.
If Morgan had been allowed to sit next to her husband without an extra charge, the assault never would have occurred, her lawyers said.
When the man started groping her Morgan said, she froze in fear and was afraid of reporting it immediately because of the possibility of retribution from the man, Cherian Abraham, or from other passengers if the plane had been diverted as a result.
Morgan’s lawyers also allege that American Airlines was negligent when it allowed Abraham to fly with the airline, according to the lawsuit. Abraham had been previously reported to American Airlines for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman onboard a flight in 2023, Morgan’s attorneys said in a statement.
Abraham, 55, also is named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
Representatives for American Airlines and a lawyer for Abraham did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“When [Morgan] reported her assault, American Airlines both failed to respond and completely disregarded her,” Daisy Ayllon, a lawyer for Morgan, said. “This lawsuit seeks to hold both the individual and the airline accountable, and to send a message to other survivors: your voices matter, your safety matters and you deserve to be treated with dignity when you fly.”
Abraham has been indicted on a federal charge of abusive sexual contact after authorities said he groped a 22-year-old woman onboard another American Airlines flight in a separate incident earlier this year, the Star-Telegram previously reported.
