WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - According to a court filing, American Airlines (AAL)
defended their employee's act of secretly recording inside a plane's lavatory by
blaming a 9-year-old plaintiff for not seeing the hidden camera.

American Airlines' lawyers claimed, 'Any injuries or illnesses alleged to have
been sustained by plaintiff, Mary Doe, were proximately caused by plaintiff's
own fault and negligence, were proximately caused by Plaintiff's use of the
compromised lavatory, which she knew or should have known contained a visible
and illuminated recording device.'

The plaintiff's lawyer, Paul Llewellyn, of Lewis & Llewellyn LLP, commented, 'To
blame a 9 year old for being filmed while using the airplane bathroom is both
shocking and outrageous.'

'In my opinion this is a depraved legal strategy that sinks to a new low.
American Airlines should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves,' he continued.

Last year, the aircraft company was sued when an employee named Estes Carter
Thompson III allegedly recorded multiple little girls between the ages of 7 and
14 in the plane lavatory.

Llewellyn filed a case on behalf of the 9-year-old girl who saw a camera flash
in the lavatory and took a photo to show her mother. The lawsuit claimed that
her explicit images were found on Thompson's phone, following this she suffered
from symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, including depression, anxiety,
insomnia and nightmares.

'This emotional distress has had fundamental impact on her interpersonal
relationships, her schooling and her ability to function in the world,' the law
suit alleged.

However, after receiving wide backlash for the defense tactic, American Airlines
announced, 'Our outside legal counsel retained with our insurance company made
an error in this filing.'

The company continued, 'We do not believe this child is at fault, and we take
the allegations involving a former team member very seriously. Our core mission
is to care for people - and the foundation of that is the safety and security of
our customers and team.'

Meanwhile, Thompson who was indicted on charges of attempted sexual exploitation
of children and one count of possession of images of child sexual abuse
depicting a prepubescent minor pleaded not guilty.



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