Southwest Airlines is being sued following an alleged sexual assault that took place on a flight.
According to People, legal group Greenberg Gross LLP has issued a lawsuit against Southwest on behalf of the alleged victim who claims that on July 4, 2022, he was sexually assaulted by a man who appeared to be 50 years old.
The individual, who was 16 at the time, was traveling to a wedding with his family and boarded a connecting flight from Las Vegas to Portland. As the family was one of last few to board the flight, the boy was directed to a “middle seat near the back of the plane” by a flight attendant, per the lawsuit.
Seated between two adult men, with one falling asleep as the cabin lights dimmed, the teen was allegedly assaulted by the second man who appeared to be “visibly intoxicated.” The lawsuit alleges that the man groped the boy’s thighs before grabbing his groin and genitals from outside his shorts, attempted to kiss him and tried to lure the teen into touching his penis. As the boy was unable to notify his parents of the alleged encounter, it was after deplaning that he “broke down in tears and informed his parents of the assault,” with the Port of Portland Police Department being contacted shortly after.
If the case goes to court, Southwest’s seating guidelines may be reviewed, as the website states that if passengers are traveling with a child “age seven to 13 years old,” it “will reasonably endeavor to seat a child next to one accompanying passenger (14 and older) to the extent practicable and at no additional cost.”
The complaint also reads that due to Southwest’s negligence, the alleged perpetrator was “emboldened by the lack of any flight attendant intervention or monitoring.”
The plantiff seeks “relief” from the assault, including “compensatory general damages in an amount to be proven at trial.”
The plantiff ha decided to sue Southwest “because there’s a lot of other people who suffer the same anxiety and fear that I feel every day.”
“I want them to know that something can be done about it,” he said. “Something needs to be done to make sure that children are made safe.”