American Airlines Blames 9-year-old For Not Seeing Hidden Camera In Bathroom

(RTTNews) - 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.